Govt orders probe after alleged CoWin data leak; SC revives ban on Uber, Rapido bike taxis in Delhi

Also in this letter:
■ Can Realme make a U-turn in India?
■ A master app for your EV charging needs
■ Andreessen Horowitz’s first London office

Govt orders probe after alleged CoWin data leak

A bot on social messaging application Telegram might have the personal details you fed on the national vaccination portal CoWin, after an alleged data leak. Though the government said it was “not a direct breach”, it has asked the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-IN) to probe the matter.

Probe underway: Cert-In is probing how the bot was able to provide details of a person’s vaccination date, the place where they were vaccinated against Covid-19, along with the date of birth of the person, a government official told ET, adding that these details are likely from datasets that had been stolen earlier.

Yes, but: Later in the day, the minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that an initial probe from Cert-In had indicated that neither the CoWin app nor the database had been breached.

Quote, unquote: “A Telegram Bot was throwing up Cowin app details upon entry of phone numbers. The data being accessed by bot from a threat actor database, which seems to have been populated with previously stolen data. It does not appear that CoWin app or database has been directly breached,” Chandrasekhar tweeted.

The ministry of family health and welfare also asserted that CoWin remained safe and that there had been no breaches.

SC revives ban on Uber, Rapido bike taxis in New Delhi

Two-wheeler taxis operated by aggregators such as Ola, Uber and Rapido faced a setback from the apex court on Monday. The Supreme Court said such taxis cannot ply the roads of the national capital till the Delhi government notifies the final policy on two-wheeler non-transport vehicles, reversing the High Court’s interim order.

What does this mean? The SC stayed two decisions of the Delhi High Court that had directed the Delhi government not to take any coercive action against bike taxi aggregators Rapido and Uber till its guidelines were notified.

Complete stay “unwarranted”: A vacation bench of Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal said, “In these facts and circumstances, a wholesale stay of the notification was unwarranted. We stay both the impugned judgments. High Court directed to hear matter expeditiously, parties given liberty to file early hearing application. Present proceedings disposed of.”

Delhi govt’s stance: The AAP government said the aggregators were operating two-wheelers without proper licenses or permits, required under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The government also argued that non-transport two-wheelers should not be used as taxis without a policy in place and that the policy would be in place and the licensing regime will become operational by July 31, 2023.

Aggregators’ contention: In a public notice from February, the government cautioned bike-taxis against plying in Delhi and warned violations would make aggregators liable for a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh. “The direction issued by the transport department under the impugned notice is ex-facie arbitrary and passed without following due process under law, without providing any reasons for such prohibition,” read Rapido’s plea in the High Court.

A master app is in the works to ease EV charging

If you’re the owner of an electric vehicle (EV), soon you will no longer have to worry too much about running out of juice. In another step towards its vision of turning India into a 100% EV nation by 2030, the government is mulling over having a master app that will show real-time availability of EV charging stations nearby.

Discussions underway: The government’s economic think tank Niti Aayog held a stakeholder meeting on June 7 with companies operating public EV chargers and discussed the app as well as possible plans for a beta version in the next few weeks, said people who attended the meeting.

Tell me more: Currently, different companies operate charging stations and have their own dedicated apps, which are not interoperable. So, users have to download multiple apps. Under the proposal — to be funded by the Asian Development Bank and owned by the government — users of the master app can look for the nearest available charging station, book a slot in advance and make payments.

Not everyone’s happy: Sources told ET companies are apprehensive about the idea as it would render their existing applications redundant, diminishing their competitive edge, apart from issues around user privacy and sharing proprietary data with third parties. So, Niti Aayog has asked these stakeholders to send suggestions on a workable solution.

Data for thought: According to Bureau of Energy Efficiency data, 7,013 public charging stations were operational in the country as of May 5. The government has sanctioned 2,877 charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states and Union territories. Further, 1,576 stations on nine expressways and 16 highways have also been sanctioned.

Realme to adapt in bid to regain India share: Founder Sky Li

Realme founder and CEO Sky Li

The going is getting tough for Realme in India with a top-level exit, a massive drop in market share, unfavourable market conditions, and China having a greater say in decision-making and operations. Yet, the company’s founder, Sky Li, is optimistic that adapting to Indian consumers will reverse the fortunes of the firm, which was once the number three smartphone brand in the country.

Driving the news: Li told ET the company understood the significance of the high-volume entry-level market and will continue to develop and refine its offerings to deliver value for money.

“Market share is a factor of evolving consumer preferences, competitive developments, and economic conditions. However, it should not be the only assessment of a company’s business performance.”

Bad news: According to Counterpoint Research, Realme India shipments plunged 52% on-year in the January-March quarter of 2023, resulting in the brand slipping to fifth place with a 9% share. Analysts say the Chinese brand faced challenges such as inventory build-up and tough market conditions in the sub-Rs 10,000 segments.

A vital exit: If the company’s fall in the pecking order was not enough, the exit of Madhav Sheth, the head of Realme India, in March, exacerbated Realme’s problems. The company might see some key employees jump ship with Sheth, who is widely expected to join the company’s rival Honor to relaunch their brand of smartphones in India. He would need his trusted lieutenants to help set up the sales operations for Honor smartphones.

Also read | Rise of 5G makes it hard for retailers to sell 4G handsets

Sriram Krishnan to lead Andreessen Horowitz’s first London office

Sriram Krishnan, general partner, Andreessen Horowitz

New York’s loss could well be London’s gain. As crypto companies and exchanges feel the heat from US regulators and eye diversification, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s ambitions to turn Britain into the world’s Web3 capital is nothing short of a blessing in disguise for them. Sunak has found his first backer in Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a major crypto investor from the US.

A London office: US VC firm Andreessen Horowitz said it will set up its first international office in London later this year. It will work with universities in the UK and support the development of blockchain technology and startups.

Why Britain? Chris Dixon, founder and managing director of Andreessen’s a16z crypto fund, wrote in a blog post that one of the reasons for choosing the UK is because its authorities are willing to work with the industry to create policies that incentivise startups to pursue decentralisation.

“We have been working with policymakers and regulators across the globe, and during our discussions, it has become clear that the UK government sees the promise of web3, with prime minister Rishi Sunak suggesting the UK can become a hub of web3 innovation,” he wrote.

Who is Sriram Krishnan? Not many might know that the Indian-born, Chennai-raised techie happens to be a close aide of Twitter chief Elon Musk, apart from being a general partner at a16z. In fact, Musk sought Krishnan’s help to restructure the microblogging platform last year after his firm pumped $400 million into the Twitter takeover deal.

Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Gaurab Dasgupta in New Delhi. Graphics and illustrations by Rahul Awasthi