The four leading electric two-wheeler manufacturers in India, Ather Energy, TVS Motor Company, Ola Electric, and Hero MotoCorp, are reportedly taking steps to comply with the government’s eligibility criteria for subsidies on electric vehicles.
The companies plan to issue refunds to customers who were separately billed for chargers that were given with the scooters, in order to bring down the cost of the vehicle and make it eligible for the subsidy.
Electric Bike Companies To Refund Customers for Chargers
The government had previously halted the release of subsidies worth nearly Rs 800 crore due to concerns that manufacturers were billing customers separately for the vehicle and the chargers to keep the prices below the eligibility threshold.
The move by the four manufacturers is expected to enable them to qualify for the subsidy, which will ultimately help in boosting the adoption of electric two-wheelers in India.
The OEMs have already taken on the cost of the chargers and modified their products to ensure they meet the eligibility limit of Rs 1.5 lakh. However, the Ministry wants the OEMs to provide refunds to customers who had paid for the chargers separately.
One of the OEMs, Ola, has decided to follow this directive and will be reimbursing approximately Rs 130 crore to around one lakh customers who had bought the Ola S1 Pro scooter. A senior government official provided this information.
Hero Electric and Okinawa Autotech Had To Return Subsidies
In March of this year, the government halted the distribution of incentives promised under the FAME II scheme due to discrepancies discovered regarding the localisation regulations it had set.
After investigations discovered that Hero Electric and Okinawa Autotech did not meet the localisation requirements of the FAME II scheme, the Ministry suspended incentives for these two Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
As a result, both companies had to return the subsidies they received under the program. However, Hero Electric claimed that it has not received any such letter from the Department of Heavy Industries.
As per Sohinder Gill, CEO of Hero Electric, “The news in the media seems to have been planted as a last-ditch attempt to derail our business by exaggerating, sensationalizing and maligning our brand–a syndicated attack that has been going on for the last 15 months to shake our market leadership of close to a decade.”
The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) stated that the government owes OEMs almost Rs 1,200 crore in subsidies, which has been paid from their own pockets. The delay in releasing these rebates is putting pressure on OEMs, causing financial difficulties.
