India Bans One Power Bank Model on All Flights: What to Check

NEW DELHI. India's aviation regulator has banned one specific power bank model from every flight to, from and within India. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the DGCA, said the MOBIKINS MK-PB-04 must not be carried or transported on board an aircraft in passenger baggage, checked in or cabin, or as cargo, according to reporting by The Hindu BusinessLine and PTI.

The DGCA communication is dated September 29, 2026. The BusinessLine reported on October 15, 2026 that the regulator cited a recent fire incident involving the power bank and the safety risks linked to it. Details of that incident and of the maker of the device could not be ascertained, the paper said.

The October 11 flight

Power bank fires stopped being abstract on October 11, 2026. On that day a passenger power bank kept in an overhead bin caught fire on a Chennai bound IndiGo plane, according to the BusinessLine, which said the aircraft was diverted to Hyderabad and landed safely. Beebom reported the flight as IndiGo 6E 6115 from Delhi to Chennai, with smoke coming from a personal electronic device in an overhead bin, the crew responding, the pilots diverting as a precaution, and no injuries reported. IndiGo arranged another aircraft to take passengers on to Chennai.

The sequence needs care. The written ban is dated September 29, 2026, before the October 11 flight, and the regulator's stated reason was a recent fire incident involving the model. Reports have not established whether the September order and the October 11 incident involve the same device event, so the two should not be merged into one claim.

What the ban covers, and what it does not

The order is narrow. It names one model, the MOBIKINS MK-PB-04, and it bans that model from passenger baggage and from cargo on any flight operating to, from or within India. It is not a general ban on power banks. Other models can still fly under the existing battery rules.

Airlines have been told to identify the affected device, keep it off aircraft and tell passengers about the restriction through their normal channels, according to coverage of the order. For travelers, the practical step is simple: check the model number printed on your power bank before you pack. If it reads MK-PB-04, leave it at home.

The wider argument

The ban has already pulled in a bigger debate. Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma posted on X calling for power banks to be banned on flights to and from India altogether, LiveMint reported, asking why airlines and regulators had not acted after fire incidents on board aircraft. He pointed to the rule that passengers already keep devices in airplane mode and said he would prefer a full ban.

That wider ban is not policy. The DGCA acted against a single model, and lithium battery rules remain the standing framework: spare batteries and power banks travel in hand baggage under the dangerous goods rules, and airlines train crews to respond to battery fires and report them. What changed this week is that one named product is now barred completely, in the cabin, in the hold and in cargo.

What happens next

Watch two things. First, how airlines enforce a model specific ban at check in and at the gate, where staff have seconds to identify a small device. Second, whether the regulator widens the list. For now, the order stands as written: one model, every India flight, no exceptions for baggage or cargo.