How Indian Govt Plans To Solve Charger Anxiety

The Indian government is working on a unified platform to reduce what it calls “charger anxiety” among electric vehicle owners. Unlike range anxiety, which is about battery capacity, charger anxiety is the fear of not finding a working charger or facing payment problems during a trip.

NPCI’s Unified Charging Hub

Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Hanif Qureshi, confirmed that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has built a framework for a national charging hub.

The platform will serve as a single interface to discover chargers, book slots, and make payments. It aims to replace today’s scattered system, where users must rely on multiple apps with separate logins and wallets.

At present, the EV ecosystem is fragmented with more than 103 different apps created by automakers and charge point operators. This has created confusion for users who often need to download several apps and maintain separate accounts to access different networks. The new unified hub is designed to simplify this with one platform covering chargers from various operators.

Addressing Charger Reliability

Charger anxiety is not just about multiple apps but also about the reliability of the infrastructure itself. Many owners complain that chargers listed as available on apps are often non-functional when they arrive. Poor maintenance, unreliable power supply, software glitches, and inaccurate data have led to frequent breakdowns in trust.

A June 2024 survey highlighted the scale of the problem. It found that 88 percent of EV owners face anxiety over whether they will find a working charger, and more than half said charging issues had made them consider returning to petrol vehicles. These concerns become more serious during long trips, especially in extreme weather when drivers are forced to turn off air conditioning or heating to conserve battery.

Real-Time Data the Key

One of the biggest gaps today is the lack of accurate, real-time information. Current apps often show chargers as available even if they are out of order. Families travelling with children or older adults are particularly at risk of being stranded in uncomfortable or unsafe conditions because of such gaps in data.

The government’s planned hub promises to solve this by providing real-time updates on charger availability and functionality. This should reduce wasted trips to non-working chargers and give drivers more confidence while planning long-distance travel.

Push for EV Adoption

The platform is in advanced stages of approval and will become the backbone of India’s public charging system once operational. By standardising the user experience across all charging networks, the government hopes to reduce the stress around long-distance EV travel.

For buyers, this could mean fewer uncertainties about whether they can find a working charger on highways. For the industry, it is expected to support faster EV adoption by addressing one of the biggest barriers to ownership.

If implemented as planned, the NPCI framework will make EV charging simpler, more reliable, and more transparent. Charger anxiety may not disappear overnight, but the move is a step toward making electric vehicles a more practical choice for everyday use and long-distance travel in India.