Electric 2-Wheeler Manufacturers To Refund Customers For Home/On-Board Chargers

Selling on-board/home chargers at an extra price is a definite violation of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME II) scheme. But two-wheeler companies like Ola Electric, Ather, TVS Motor Company and Hero MotoCorp have been doing so for a while. And this was discovered by the Ministry of Heavy Industries, who launched an investigation, following whistle-blowers complaints, which said that few EV manufacturers are charging customers extra for home and on-board chargers along with software packs to get the ex-factory cost up to Rs. 1.5 lakh, which is when the 40 per cent subsidy kicks in, for electric two-wheelers.

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For example, Ola Electric sold chargers separately for its S1 scooters, which is priced at Rs. 9,000 while Ather Energy, TVS and Hero MotoCorp offer chargers which cost up to Rs. 19,000, in order to drive up the cost of the scooters and meet the Rs. 1.5 lakh cut-off.

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Now, the government has asked EV two-wheeler manufacturers to refund the cost of the chargers to customers in a retrospect manner and most OEMs have already restructured the pricing of their models to meet the Rs. 1.5 lakh mark. Most OEMs have agreed to meet the new directive issued by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. Industry reports suggest that disbursal of FAME II subsidies have been held up since March 2023.

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Ola Electric has the biggest reimbursement bill and will be refunding Rs. 130 crore to various customers who bought the charger, which was sold separately and not as a part of the overall ex-factory cost.

Reports also say that the government has stopped FAME II subsidy for Hero Electric and Okinawa Autotech. Investigation suggests that these companies do not meet the localisation criteria for FAME II subsidies.