Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Ather Energy To Refund Charger Cost To Buyers
The move comes after the Ministry of Heavy Industries reportedly pulled up 2-W-EV makers for violating FAME-II scheme norms.
Top electric scooter makers such as TVS Motor Co., Ola Electric Mobility Pvt., and Ather Energy Pvt. will issue refunds to the tune of Rs 280 crore to customers for selling chargers separately.
The move comes after the Ministry of Heavy Industries reportedly pulled up two-wheeler electric vehicle manufacturers, sending notices to various firms, for violating norms under the FAME-II scheme of the government.
Under the scheme, scooters that are priced over Rs 1.5 lakh are not eligible for incentives. Hence, several EV firms were selling portable chargers and proprietary software separately to customers to still be in the bracket of receiving eligible incentives.
On Thursday, Ola Electric said it would reimburse its buyers of electric scooters for the cost of chargers. In its statement, the company didn't mention a specific amount, but according to people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the refund could be a total of around Rs 130 crore.
Ather Energy also said in a statement that it will start bundling chargers with scooters. "Over the past few weeks, we have been in discussion with the Ministry of Heavy Industries on the topic of bundling chargers with the purchase of an EV scooter. While there is no legal compliance requirement to bundle chargers, after discussions with MHI and in the larger interest of the EV ecosystem, we recently made the change to bundle the charger with the vehicle," it said.
In order to be fair to customers who had bought the vehicle prior to this change, it has been decided to refund the invoiced amount of the chargers for vehicles bought before April 12, 2023.
Ather also didn't mention an amount in the statement, but a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that it would refund a total of around Rs 140 crore.
TVS Motor informed the exchanges that it has "fully complied with all government regulations specified under FAME."
"Further towards alleviating ambiguity and ensuring a clear policy direction, TVS Motor will offer a goodwill benefit scheme for its customers who have paid over and above the threshold limit fixed by FAME. The overall cost impact to TVS Motor Co. is less than Rs 20 crore," said KN Radhakrishnan, chief executive officer and director, TVS Motor Co.
