Tired of EV Charging Apps? Boost Utilisation with Frictionless WhatsApp + UPI Payments.

Public and semi-public EV charging points in India operate at single-digit utilisation levels due to the need to download multiple apps and complete wallet preloading and other tasks before the consumer can even begin the charging experience. This app fatigue has a direct impact on the sessions, revenue, and return on investment for charge point operators (CPOs).

"App-free" WhatsApp and UPI-based charging enable the EV charging experience to be as simple as "scan, chat, pay" with any smartphone, without the need to download additional apps, accounts or cards. This simplicity leads to increased repeat business and walk-in charging sessions by the consumer.

Savekar operates at the exact intersection where the company offers an Indian-centric WhatsApp and UPI-based charging management system (CMS) with the following attributes:

• It can operate with any type of OCPP-compliant AC or DC charger.
• It provides the consumer with the app-free experience.
• It enables the charge point operator to retain 100 per cent of the charging revenue.

Introduction: App fatigue is killing EV charger ROI

In India, for example, EV owners are required to download a new app for every charging network, complete mobile OTP registrations, and share KYCs, as well as pre-load wallets, before they can begin charging. When a commuter moves around cities or states, this results in a total of 5-10 apps, each with its own user interface, language, and authentication scheme, leading to app fatigue.

For CPOs and property owners, this results in reduced daily sessions, idle chargers, and longer payback periods, even for chargers located in high-traffic areas such as malls, corporate hubs, or highway food plazas. This is now one of the most effective ways to increase utilisation, reducing the cognitive burden for EV drivers.

Why WhatsApp + UPI is the natural fit for EV charging in India

Furthermore, the combination of WhatsApp, with the vast majority of Indian smartphone users having the application pre-installed, as well as serving as the default communication interface for the population of India, both rural and urban, and UPI, with the latter facilitating tens of billions of instant account-to-account transactions every month, represents an easily recognizable, comfortable, and familiar user interaction paradigm of scan the QR, receive the WhatsApp message, make the UPI payment, and receive the confirmation.

This interaction paradigm has been validated by several Indian companies:

• Pulse Energy and Log9 Mobility have utilised WhatsApp-based payments with their DC fast chargers, allowing the user to scan the QR, receive the WhatsApp message, and make the UPI payment without the need to download an additional application.
  
• The UPI-based charging solutions, such as E-FILL Electric, Cargar Pay, Paybox, etc., have validated the effectiveness of the direct UPI QR payment method, allowing CPOs to receive the payment directly into their bank accounts.

The same logic is embedded in Savekar’s own platform, making it accessible to all property owners/CPOs. This platform provides an Indian-centric CMS with WhatsApp-based session management and UPI payments without wallets or apps.

Competitor landscape: App‑heavy vs app‑free approaches

App‑centric CPO platforms

Legacy charging networks in India continue to be based around the following model:

• ElectricPe CMS forces CPOs and drivers to register through the ElectricPe app, where the entire process, including chargers, stations, and payments, happens through the app.
  
• Other networks, such as Statiq, ChargeZone, and several others, also follow the app route, thereby adding yet another icon to the driver's home screen.

While these apps provide the entire gamut of features, they also create problems in terms of the additional steps that must be taken for the driver to register, as well as the problem of language for those not conversant in English.

App‑free and WhatsApp/UPI‑first challengers

A new wave of Indian innovations is challenging this paradigm:

• Pulse Energy claims its WhatsApp bot enables charge starting, stopping, and paying for charging, and notes that CPOs using its SaaS platform have seen utilisation of the charging points increase from single-digit percentages to over 20% in just over 45 days.
  
• UPI-based payboxes and the academic designs like Energy Ease are already proving that QR code and UPI-based flows can replace the need for cards, NFC, or apps altogether, but still enable secure and PCI-compliant transactions and real-time energy data.
  
• New CSMS platforms are emerging as UPI-based, app-less solutions that promise compatibility with all OCPP-based chargers, including support for multi-tenancy and automated revenue sharing, again leveraging the narrative of plug, scan, pay.

Where Savekar fits

Savekar is a part of this second wave, which is focused squarely on Indian property owners, i.e., housing societies, commercial properties, hotels, co-working spaces, etc., who want to monetise EV charging without becoming CPOs or developing apps.

The key differentiators of Savekar are as follows:

• No App, No Wallet, No Lock-In: The user just needs to scan the QR on the charger, open a WhatsApp flow, and pay through any UPI App.
  
• Charger Agnostic OCPP: Savekar is compatible with a variety of AC and DC chargers listed on their marketplace, including Infinity 7.4, X1, Servotec, Tucker DC Fast Chargers, etc., which support GSM, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and OCPP 1.6.
  
• Revenue Control: Savekar’s CMS is subscription-based, e.g., a WhatsApp + UPI CMS, which means the property owner has 100% control over the revenue generated by the chargers, i.e., they can configure the pricing per unit or per kWh as they desire.

How app fatigue directly reduces charger utilisation

Typical app‑based EV charging journey

A first-time user of an app-centric public charging station will typically have to:

1. Download and install the network’s app from an app store.
   
2. Register using their mobile number, OTP, and sometimes KYC.
   
3. Add their payment method or top up their wallet.
   
4. Search for the nearby charging station using the app’s map view.
   
5. Start their charging session.

Each of these steps takes time and mental effort. In low network zones, simply downloading the app from an app store can be an issue. For non-English speakers, unfamiliar UI elements or error messages also pose an issue.

Impact on utilization and revenue

Every additional step generates drop-offs:

• Some people may be deterred by the need to download the app and may decide to "charge later" when they get home or to a familiar charging point.
  
• Tourists or infrequent users may want to avoid the hassle of charging altogether, rather than go through the process of creating an account for a one-time session.
  
• Repeat usage may also be negatively impacted as people remember the hassle of another account or loyalty program.
  

Companies such as Pulse Energy have implemented the WhatsApp flows to "reduce the cognitive load required to start and stop any charging station across the country," based on the experience of the impact of app complexity on usage. Their success in moving from single-digit to over 20% utilization through the implementation of the app-free chat and UPI flows is evidence that improving the user experience may indeed have an impact on asset performance.

Frictionless WhatsApp + UPI flow (Savekar model)

Step‑by‑step driver experience

Savekar’s journey of paying via WhatsApp + UPI charging can be explained as a short, linear flow:

• Scan the QR on the charger: The QR code will be printed or displayed on the charger’s body and will contain the charger ID and location.
  
• Open WhatsApp chat: Instead of a web page or app store, the QR code will deep-link into a WhatsApp bot or business account.
  
• Confirm the charger and set the amount or units: The bot will verify the charger details and ask the user to input the amount or units.
  
• Pay via UPI: The user will tap on the UPI deep-link (for Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc.) and pay.
  
• Charging starts automatically: Once the payment confirmation is received, the CMS will send an OCPP message to initiate the session on the chosen charger.
  
• Monitor the session in chat: The bot will share the status, energy consumed, cost, and stop session options.

Flowchart: App‑based vs WhatsApp + UPI journey

• App‑based path:
  • See charger → Download app → Register → Add payment method / wallet → Find charger in app → Start charging → Pay
• WhatsApp + UPI path (Savekar):

See charger → Scan QR → WhatsApp opens → Enter amount → Pay via UPI → Charging starts

This stark contrast in steps highlights how WhatsApp + UPI dramatically compresses time‑to‑charge, especially for first‑time users.

The reason why this flow increases utilisation:

• No new app: People already use WhatsApp as a messaging app and their existing UPI apps.
• No wallets: Money is being transferred directly from the driver’s bank account to the property owner/CPO.
• Local language friendly: WhatsApp is already local language friendly with features such as local language messages, voice notes, and buttons, which are easier to understand than complex UI screens.

Visualising the Utilisation Uplift:

To make this impact tangible, let’s take a look at the graph below that shows how a typical app-only charging model’s utilisation grows over the first nine months of deployment, in contrast with a WhatsApp + UPI model. Note that both start at the same point, but the app-only model grows steadily but slowly over time, plateauing in the low teens as first-time users are loath to download one more app. In contrast, the WhatsApp + UPI model shoots up quickly and peaks in the 20-25% range as more first-time users become repeat users.

Translating utilisation gains into revenue gains:

The chart connects this utilisation gain to revenue per charger. The revenue increases moderately with an app-only stack as a small user base builds up, but with Savekar’s WhatsApp + UPI solution, revenue increases much more significantly each month as more walk-ins are captured by frictionless payments and as users top up their accounts frequently. This is what ultimately matters to property owners: quicker returns on their initial investment in EV charging infrastructure, as well as more robust returns per parking slot.

How Savekar maximises both utilisation and revenue

1. Indian Centric, App-Free User Experience

The website of Savekar clearly states that the product it offers is "Indian Centric EV charging – no app required." It allows the customer to chat and pay through the medium of WhatsApp and UPI, rather than depending on an app or wallet, and hence the user experience is quite natural, encouraging the customer to walk in as a visitor, tenant, or even an employee.

The experience is quite useful when the property has both residential and commercial spaces, as not all may be tech-savvy or willing to download an app for a single-time purpose.

2. Charger-Agnostic OCPP Integration and Marketplace

Savekar offers a list of OCPP-compliant AC and DC charging stations (like EVRE, Servotec, Tucker, Plugzmart, and others) that provide detailed product specifications, including power ratings, phases, communication interfaces, environments, and protection ratings, and hence the property owner can select the charging stations that they want to install according to the requirement of the location, whether it's residential, retail, fleet, or highway, but run all of them through the medium of WhatsApp and UPI-based CMS.

Since the control happens at the OCPP and CMS layer, Savekar can offer the feature of WhatsApp-based start/stop and billing to the customer without each charger OEM having to develop the app and payment gateway.

3. Revenue-first business model

Unlike other players that charge a percentage of each and every transaction or mandate users to store their funds in their wallets, Savekar provides its CMS product for an annual fee, for example, an annual WhatsApp + UPI CMS fee, so property owners earn 100% of their charging revenue.

This creates an incentive structure where Savekar only succeeds if property owners’ chargers are being used, hence motivating them to optimise for usage.

Marketing literature from Savekar’s website provides an example of how an investment could be broken down for an example setup, including a multi-charger setup with an estimated 300 sessions per month, 7,500 kWh delivered, and an estimated nine-month payback period with more than 90% uptime, although actual figures will vary based on location and utilisation.

4. Deep operational visibility with analytics

Savekar’s CMS offers real-time analytics dashboards where the property owner can monitor sessions, energy delivered, revenue generated, etc., across the chargers. This enables them to:

Identify underperforming locations or time slots.

Make tariff adjustments based on time of day or demand.

Identify technical issues that could be silently impacting performance.

Pulse Energy, one of the advanced players in the market, has demonstrated the power of using data and remote control using OCPP to increase utilisation from single-digit percentages to over 20%; Savekar follows similar data-driven principles but with an offering that is India-centric and WhatsApp-based.

5. Flexible business models, no lock-in

Savekar offers flexible business models, including the ability to pay per use, time of day, energy consumed, etc., as well as subscription services for heavy consumers, along with a 'no lock-in period' policy, which means that consumers can change their business model at any point in time without any penalty.

Ideal use cases for WhatsApp + UPI EV charging

• Residential societies and Gated Communities

In residential societies, there are usually shared parking facilities, and not all flat owners might be willing to install another app for the sole purpose of paying for the society's charging stations. The WhatsApp integration enables any resident or visitor of the society to scan a QR code on the AC charging stations, make a payment through UPI, and also view their billing history on the familiar WhatsApp interface.

• For commercial complexes, shopping malls, hotels, and offices

In shopping malls and hotels, the charging stations are as much a marketing tool as they are a source of revenue. Visitors are unlikely to download another app for a single shopping experience or stay in a hotel. The WhatsApp integration enables visitors to make a payment through UPI without any commitment or hassle of installing another app.

Commercial complexes and office parks can also offer EV charging as an amenity for employees and visitors, without the need for them to build a system themselves.

• Highway Pit Stops and Fleet Depots

Highway DC Fast Chargers and Fleet Depots have both regular and one-time users. In such cases, time-to-charge is the critical factor. Users don’t want to be bothered with registration at such places. WhatsApp + UPI allows them to plug in, scan, and start charging in an instant.

Fleet Depots benefit in that they can negotiate customised tariffs with us, using the same WhatsApp + UPI backend.

Practical implementation roadmap with Savekar

Step 1: Site assessment and charger selection

Savekar starts with a free consultation, during which it assesses the property type, parking space, expected number of EVs, and budget. Accordingly, it suggests an appropriate AC or DC charger from its list of vendors. The key is to identify an optimal combination of power ratings and connector types for existing and future requirements.

Step 2: Connect with installers and OEMs

Savekar connects property owners with certified charger vendors and installation companies. This includes site surveys, cabling, and electrical work. The CMS is independent of specific chargers, so property owners have the option of adding or replacing chargers later.

Step 3: Configure WhatsApp + UPI CMS

After the chargers are live, Savekar proceeds to configure the chargers on the CMS:

• Onboards the chargers with the OCPP details provided.
  
• Associates the charger ID with a unique QR code for the WhatsApp and UPI flows.
  
• Configures the pricing model, access control, and any plans that may be in effect.

The property owner subscribes to the CMS, e.g., through an annual subscription fee, and the entire payment process flows directly to the owner’s bank account through the UPI channel, with the CMS simply acting as an orchestrator.

Step 4: Launch and educate the users

The launch campaigns may involve the following:

• Signage that explains the process of scanning and charging.
  
• WhatsApp broadcast messages to the residents or employees.
  
• Simple how-to guides placed in strategic locations, e.g., next to the charging spots.

Since the process involves the use of WhatsApp and UPI channels, which the user understands, the training effort is minimal, and the adoption rate is quick to materialise.

Step 5: Optimise based on analytics

Finally, property owners use Savekar’s analytics to optimise their tariffs, add more chargers, and even implement different tariffs for night and day charging. Once the charging pattern is consistent, property owners can plan additional infrastructure.

FAQs related to WhatsApp and UPI Payments for EV Charging

1. How does the actual flow of WhatsApp-based EV charging work?

The actual flow of the process involves scanning the QR code of the charging station, after which you will be connected to a WhatsApp chat with an automated bot or a business account linked to the charging CMS. The bot will verify the charging station details and ask you to make the payment via UPI. After verifying the payment, the CMS will initiate a start command to the charging station and will give you live session updates directly via WhatsApp.

2. How secure is UPI for making payments for EV charging?

UPI is indeed secure enough to make payments for EV charging. This is because UPI is regulated by the NPCI and is used to make over billions of secure transactions every month. It provides robust security with the help of UPI PINs and app-level security. Whitepapers and industry projects such as Energy Ease describe the integration of UPI with payment gateways, dynamic QR codes, encryption, etc.

3. Do drivers still need to download any application?

No. Drivers only need two items that they already use on a daily basis under the Savekar model: WhatsApp and any UPI application (such as Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc.). A new application does not need to be downloaded in order to charge.

4. Can WhatsApp + UPI work with my existing chargers?

If your chargers are OCPP (version 1.6 or later) compliant and also have network connectivity (GSM, Wi-Fi, Ethernet), they should be able to be integrated with a WhatsApp + UPI-based CMS such as Savekar without any new payment hardware being required. Savekar’s marketplace has several OCPP-compliant chargers available from various OEMs that already support integration with Savekar’s CMS.

5. How does this model increase charger utilisation?

The elimination of steps, such as no app download, no registration, and no wallet, reduces the steps required for a user to go from “see charger” to “start charging.” Data from Pulse Energy and other such apps indicates that this can increase utilisation rates from single digits to greater than 20%, thus directly impacting revenue per charger.

6. How does Savekar make money if property owners are earning 100% of the revenue?

Unlike traditional methods, Savekar does not take a share of every charging transaction. Instead, it follows a subscription-based business model for its WhatsApp + UPI CMS, in which it charges a platform fee for every property. This way, all UPI transactions are directly transferred into the property owner’s account, and Savekar’s incentives are aligned with maximising utilisation.

7. What kind of support does Savekar provide?

Their services include 24/7 support, on-site service, with 90% uptime. There is also a dashboard that allows users to monitor their chargers, sessions, and revenue in real-time. They can also help users choose a charger, connect with OEMs, as well as optimize.

Post script: Technical deep‑dive

A. High-Level Architecture: OCPP + WhatsApp + UPI

The general architecture of a Savekar-type system has four main entities:

Entities: EV Chargers (AC/DC, OCPP), Savekar Cloud CMS, WhatsApp Business API/Bot, UPI Payment Gateway/PSP

Entities’ Description:

• EV Chargers: These include various types of EV Chargers, such as Infinity 7.4, Servotec CCS-2 60 kW, Tucker DC Fast Chargers, etc., that expose OCPP 1.6J endpoints using communication protocols such as GSM, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.
  
• Savekar Cloud CMS: These are cloud-based management platforms that manage various aspects of EV Chargers, users, pricing models, session management, etc., and expose OCPP server endpoints.
  
• WhatsApp Business API/Bot: These are used as a communication interface with users, similar to the WhatsApp Bot used by Pulse Energy and WATI.
  
• UPI Payment Gateway/PSP: These are used to create dynamic UPI QR codes linked with session IDs, etc., that notify the CMS to start/stop sessions after verifying successful payments through webhooks/call backs.

B. Sequence of Operations

• Charger discovery: A URL or payload that matches a charger ID in the CMS is contained in the QR code on the charger. After that, a WhatsApp conversation is started using the QR code.
  
• Session Request: The user enters the desired amount or energy. The WhatsApp bot receives this information from the CMS.
  
• Payment initiation: The CMS sends a request to the payment gateway to create a UPI collect request, QR code, or intent URL with metadata such as charger ID, location, and optionally geohash, as per industry guidelines on integrating UPI EV.
  
• Payment confirmation: Once the PSP has confirmed the payment, the CMS updates the session state and sends a Remote Start Transaction to the charger.
  
• Live monitoring and cutoff: The charger sends meter values and status notifications to the CMS using OCPP. The CMS then pushes updates to the WhatsApp bot, which displays this information to the user.
  
• Session End and Receipt: When the user has reached their desired energy/amount or has stopped the session, the CMS sends a Remote Stop Transaction.

C. Security, compliance, and reliability

• Payment Security: UPI flows are enabled with bank-grade security, 2-factor authentication, and PSP-level PCI compliance, as is the case with UPI-enabled chargers and research projects.
  
• Data Integrity: Session records such as kWh readings, timestamps, tariff details, and payment IDs are maintained in the CMS.
  
• Uptime: Savekar claims on-ground support with a focus on >90% uptime, which is also the emphasis in the industry, with uptime being a prerequisite to higher utilisation.

D. Extensibility: Fleets, Roaming, and Subscriptions

The key logic being in the CMS and WhatsApp layer enables the extension of the same system for:

• Fleet-specific dashboards and billing.
  
• Interoperability or roaming between multiple CPOs, enabling the sharing of chargers under a single WhatsApp and UPI experience.
  
• Subscription or membership plans as tags or user profiles in the CMS, enforced at the tariff level.

This makes the WhatsApp + UPI combination not only a design change but a fundamental architectural decision for scalable, utilisation-oriented EV charging in India.