India’s aviation safety regulator has singled out a specific power bank model and barred it from the skies. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has prohibited the carriage and use of the “MOBIKINS MK-PB-04 power bank” on all flights to, from and within India, following a mid-air fire aboard an IndiGo aircraft earlier this month.
The ban is comprehensive in scope. It covers both checked-in and cabin baggage carried by passengers, as well as cargo shipments, leaving no route for the device aboard any aircraft operating in Indian airspace. The directive was issued through a DGCA communication dated September 29, 2026, but it surged into the headlines on October 15 after a dramatic incident brought the fire risk into sharp focus.
The trigger was a fire that broke out on October 11. A passenger’s power bank, stowed in the overhead bin of a Chennai-bound IndiGo flight from Delhi, caught fire mid-journey, forcing the crew to divert the aircraft to Hyderabad airport, where it landed safely. Cabin crew members brought the blaze under control before it could spread, and no injuries were reported among the passengers or crew. The aircraft involved was identified in media reports as IndiGo flight 6E 6115.
DGCA chief Vir Vikram Yadav has directed airlines to act decisively on the advisory. Carriers must be able to identify the specific model, prevent it from being carried by passengers under any circumstances, and proactively communicate the restriction to travellers before they reach the airport.
It is important to stress what the order is not: a blanket ban on power banks. Other permitted power bank models may still be carried — but only in hand baggage, never in checked-in luggage. The distinction matters because lithium batteries in the cargo hold, where a fire would be far harder to reach and fight, pose the greatest danger.
The regulator’s existing guidance around power banks has also been thrust back into the spotlight. Current DGCA rules require that power banks must not be stored in overhead compartments; passengers are barred from using them to charge devices during the flight or recharging them through the aircraft’s seat USB outlets. Airlines are additionally required to train cabin crew specifically for battery-related incidents and to report lithium-battery fires to the regulator.
Lithium-ion battery fires have been a persistent headache for global aviation, since they can reignite even after appearing to be extinguished and produce toxic smoke in an enclosed cabin. The DGCA’s model-specific prohibition suggests its investigation traced a particular fault to the MK-PB-04 unit rather than to generic misuse.
For passengers, the message is simple: check your power bank’s model number before heading to the airport. If it reads MOBIKINS MK-PB-04, leave it at home — security will not allow it aboard, and there are no exceptions for either cabin or cargo.
