A new social media trend is stalling e-rickshaws mid-journey across Indian cities — and it has nothing to do with mechanical failure.
Videos circulating online show people connecting to nearby e-rickshaws through a smartphone app and remotely switching them off, leaving drivers stranded and passengers confused.
The app, BAT-BMS, was designed to help mechanics monitor lithium battery health. It also includes a Bluetooth feature that can remotely cut a battery’s discharge. Many budget e-rickshaws and scooters in India use these batteries without password protection, allowing anyone within 10 to 15 metres to connect and flip the switch, stopping the vehicle almost instantly.
Clips of the stunt have spread across Instagram, YouTube, Reddit and X under hashtags such as “tirri control”, often framed as payback for reckless driving. Reactions are divided. While some describe it as karma, others point out that many drivers operate rented vehicles on daily wages and have no idea how to restore power. Some have reportedly paid strangers Rs 100 to Rs 200 just to get their vehicles running again.
Mumbai-based entrepreneur Ritu Hathi described witnessing the impact after traffic backed up behind a stalled e-rickshaw. She watched the driver push it to the roadside before towing it to a mechanic. In a post on X, she said she sympathised with the driver after learning he had lost a day’s income and would still have to pay for repairs.
Influencer Amaan Siddiqui had a similar encounter but stepped in to help. Suspecting the BAT-BMS app was responsible after seeing a driver towing his disabled e-rickshaw, he reconnected the battery himself. He later told ANI the driver broke down after realising he had lost Rs 400 to Rs 500 in earnings from the rented vehicle.
A senior Delhi government official said weak authentication appears to be at the heart of the problem. Since the batteries require no password, disconnecting them takes only seconds. There is no official estimate of how many drivers have been affected, and the viral videos have not been independently verified beyond what has been posted online.
The security flaw has now prompted government action. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has ordered BAT-BMS and a similar app, Epoch Li-ion, to be removed from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
