EV charging stations susceptible to cyber attacks: Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi: Union Minister for Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday that electric vehicle charging stations are susceptible to cyber attacks, just like cyber security issues happen to other technological applications, PTI reported.

In his written reply to Lok Sabha, the minister said that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which is mandated to track and monitor cyber security incidents in India, has received reports of vulnerabilities in products and applications related to electric vehicle charging stations.

He said, "The government is fully cognizant and aware of various cyber security threats and is actively taking steps to combat the issue of hacking."

He further said that the information reported to and tracked by CERT-In stated that the number of cyber security incidents during 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 is 2,08,456; 3,94,499; 11,58,208; 14,02,809 and 13,91,457, respectively.

Later he replied to a separate question that the Centre disbursed Rs 147 lakh as compensation to victims of hit-and-run cases in the current fiscal year till February.

The ministry notified the Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme in 2022. It provides for increased compensation to victims of hit-and-run accidents, ₹ 50,000 (in case of grievous injury) and ₹ 2,00,000 (in case of death), including a detailed procedure for availing this compensation.

In reply to another question, he said that the Centre had raised the target to 12,200 km for the construction of National Highways during the current financial year as compared to the previous three financial years.

"The target of construction of NHs for the financial year 2023-24 has not yet been finalized," he added.

There are 19 projects costing ₹ 21,864 crore lay delayed due to land acquisition delays.