Top four electric two-wheeler makers give refund of Rs 10 crore to buyers

An investigation by the Centre found that some electric two-wheeler manufacturers were billing their charger separately to their electric scooters to cut the reported sale price of their products

After a government probe found that the country's top four electric two-wheeler manufacturers flouted norms by billing customers for the charger and proprietary software separately from the scooter, they have so far collectively paid about Rs 10 crore to customers of the more than Rs 300 crore they had agreed to refund, according to a report by The Economic Times (ET).

An investigation by the Centre earlier this year found that Ola Electric, Ather Energy, TVS Motor and Hero MotoCorp were billing their charger and proprietary software separately to their electric scooters to cut the reported sale price of their products and become eligible for subsidies under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme.

The four firms were supposed to refund Rs 305.61 crore to customers who had bought the chargers as add-ons. Ather Energy has to refund Rs 157.78 crore, Ola Electric Rs 130 crore, TVS Motor Company Rs 15.6 crore, and Hero MotoCorp Rs 2.26 crore, according to estimates.

According to government data, Ola Electric has reimbursed Rs 4.25 crore of its total refund dues, whereas Ather Energy has paid back Rs 3.97 crore. TVS Motor Company has paid back Rs 9 lakh, while Hero MotoCorp has cleared most of its liability by refunding Rs 1.64 crore.

The government provides subsidies for selling indigenously produced EVs under the FAME scheme. But, electric two-wheelers priced above Rs 1.5 lakh are not eligible.

The firms have stated that a lack of availability of the details of customers' bank accounts is one of the reasons for the slow progress in refunding customers. However, officials say that information about buyers is available, and the process through which the firms provide the refunds needs to be speeded up.

What is FAME India Scheme?

The government came up with the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) scheme in 2015 under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020, which provides incentives for encouraging the purchase of electric vehicles.

Phase one of this scheme was launched for two years and began on April 1, 2015. The programme was then extended and allowed until March 31, 2019. Rs 529 crore was allocated towards the FAME 1.0, which was utilised fully.

The Centre began phase two of the FAME Scheme with Rs 10,000 crore for a period of three years. The scheme started on April 1, 2019.