diff --git a/rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/event_description__charge_battery.json b/rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/event_description__charge_battery.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42f14c44d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/event_description__charge_battery.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "$id": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-rmf/rmf_ros2/main/rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/event_description__charge_battery.json",
+  "title": "Charge Battery Event",
+  "description": "Charge a robot's battery",
+  "type": "object",
+  "properties": {
+  }
+}
diff --git a/rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/task_description__charge_battery.json b/rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/task_description__charge_battery.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b40f85bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/task_description__charge_battery.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "$id": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-rmf/rmf_ros2/main/rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/task_description__charge_battery.json",
+  "title": "Charge Battery Task",
+  "description": "Charge a robot's battery",
+  "$ref": "event_description__charge_battery.json"
+}
diff --git a/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/agv/FleetUpdateHandle.cpp b/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/agv/FleetUpdateHandle.cpp
index eb40d6e2c..fab4ccfe9 100644
--- a/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/agv/FleetUpdateHandle.cpp
+++ b/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/agv/FleetUpdateHandle.cpp
@@ -379,6 +379,16 @@ void FleetUpdateHandle::Implementation::bid_notice_cb(
       });
   }
 
+  const auto& category = request_msg["category"].get<std::string>();
+  if (bid_ignored_categories.find(category) != bid_ignored_categories.end())
+  {
+    RCLCPP_WARN(
+      node->get_logger(),
+      "Fleet [%s] received bid request for category [%s] that can only "
+      "be a direct task assignment", name.c_str(), category.c_str());
+    return;
+  }
+
   std::vector<std::string> errors = {};
   const auto new_request = convert(task_id, request_msg, errors);
   if (!new_request)
@@ -1130,6 +1140,7 @@ void FleetUpdateHandle::Implementation::add_standard_tasks()
     node->clock());
 
   tasks::add_charge_battery(
+    deserialization,
     *activation.task,
     activation.phase,
     *activation.event,
@@ -1139,6 +1150,9 @@ void FleetUpdateHandle::Implementation::add_standard_tasks()
     deserialization,
     activation,
     node->clock());
+
+  // TODO(luca) make this configurable to system integrators
+  bid_ignored_categories.insert("charge_battery");
 }
 
 //==============================================================================
diff --git a/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/agv/internal_FleetUpdateHandle.hpp b/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/agv/internal_FleetUpdateHandle.hpp
index 56e8e5a7a..6575e14e7 100644
--- a/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/agv/internal_FleetUpdateHandle.hpp
+++ b/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/agv/internal_FleetUpdateHandle.hpp
@@ -253,6 +253,9 @@ class FleetUpdateHandle::Implementation
 
   TaskActivation activation = TaskActivation();
   TaskDeserialization deserialization = TaskDeserialization();
+  // Categories of tasks that the fleet adapter should not bid for but should
+  // still accept as direct tasks, such as battery charging
+  std::unordered_set<std::string> bid_ignored_categories = {};
 
   // LegacyTask planner params
   std::shared_ptr<rmf_task::CostCalculator> cost_calculator =
diff --git a/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/tasks/ChargeBattery.cpp b/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/tasks/ChargeBattery.cpp
index 06c5a02bb..0a481f2b8 100644
--- a/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/tasks/ChargeBattery.cpp
+++ b/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/tasks/ChargeBattery.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@
 #include <rmf_task_sequence/phases/SimplePhase.hpp>
 #include <rmf_task_sequence/events/Placeholder.hpp>
 
+#include <rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/task_description__charge_battery.hpp>
+#include <rmf_fleet_adapter/schemas/event_description__charge_battery.hpp>
+
 #include <rmf_task_sequence/Task.hpp>
 
 namespace rmf_fleet_adapter {
@@ -165,6 +168,7 @@ struct ChargeBatteryEventDescription
 
 //==============================================================================
 void add_charge_battery(
+  agv::TaskDeserialization& deserialization,
   rmf_task::Activator& task_activator,
   const rmf_task_sequence::Phase::ConstActivatorPtr& phase_activator,
   rmf_task_sequence::Event::Initializer& event_initializer,
@@ -180,6 +184,25 @@ void add_charge_battery(
   WaitForChargeDescription::add(*private_initializer);
   GoToChargerDescription::add(*private_initializer);
 
+  // TODO(luca) Populate charge event with properties such as time, desired battery soc
+  deserialization.add_schema(schemas::event_description__charge_battery);
+
+  auto validate_charge_task =
+    deserialization.make_validator_shared(
+    schemas::task_description__charge_battery);
+  deserialization.add_schema(schemas::task_description__charge_battery);
+
+  auto deserialize_charge =
+    []
+      (const nlohmann::json&) -> agv::DeserializedTask
+    {
+      // Always accept
+      agv::FleetUpdateHandle::Confirmation confirm;
+      return {rmf_task::requests::ChargeBattery::Description::make(), {}};
+    };
+  deserialization.task->add("charge_battery", validate_charge_task,
+    deserialize_charge);
+
   auto charge_battery_event_unfolder =
     [](const ChargeBatteryEventDescription&)
     {
diff --git a/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/tasks/ChargeBattery.hpp b/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/tasks/ChargeBattery.hpp
index 55657bbcf..158b153df 100644
--- a/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/tasks/ChargeBattery.hpp
+++ b/rmf_fleet_adapter/src/rmf_fleet_adapter/tasks/ChargeBattery.hpp
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #define SRC__RMF_FLEET_ADAPTER__TASKS__CHARGEBATTERY_HPP
 
 #include "../LegacyTask.hpp"
+#include "../agv/internal_FleetUpdateHandle.hpp"
 #include "../agv/RobotContext.hpp"
 
 #include <rmf_traffic/agv/Planner.hpp>
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ std::shared_ptr<LegacyTask> make_charge_battery(
 
 //==============================================================================
 void add_charge_battery(
+  agv::TaskDeserialization& deserialization,
   rmf_task::Activator& task_activator,
   const rmf_task_sequence::Phase::ConstActivatorPtr& phase_activator,
   rmf_task_sequence::Event::Initializer& event_initializer,