EMPS 2024: OEMs can claim incentives twice a month, Aadhaar mandatory

EMPS, which replaced FAME, struggles to take off, just 3.6% target met

The government has taken a slew of steps to boost the sales of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers under its Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, which includes allowing manufacturers to upload claims twice a month and gives them a 120-day window to submit it.

The Rs 500-crore scheme -- which had replaced the flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme-- comes to an end on July 31st. It has failed to achieve the desired aim with just 3.6 per cent of the targeted vehicle sales achieved so far. In contrast, the FAME scheme had exceeded its mandate.

The Centre’s fresh steps are expected to give some relief to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

But, while relaxing the norms on claims, the government has also tried to plug some loopholes. 

It has mandated Aadhaar authentication for claiming incentives under the scheme, in a bid to prevent multiple vehicles from being sold to a single person in violation of the scheme’s spirit. 

According to a Ministry of Heavy Industries notice, the one-time password exemption for Aadhaar Authentication was given for sales till June 20, 2024.

All the vehicles sold post June 20 will have to submit buyer’s Aadhaar card and verify their purchase with an OTP received on Aadhaar-linked mobile number.  

“Only one electric vehicle (EV) of a specific category per individual will qualify for incentives. Individuals must validate Aadhaar authentication linked to their mobile number to be eligible for incentives. Each mobile number can only be used once for incentive purposes, preventing multiple claims by the same individual,” the MHI guidelines said.

According to a government official, this move comes in response to complaints from various stakeholders about individuals purchasing multiple vehicles under a single identity and claiming subsidies.

“One person’s details were used to buy multiple vehicles. Therefore, we have made Aadhaar authentication mandatory,” the official said.

According to data from the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), only 13,499 of the 372,215 targeted vehicles have been sold under the new scheme.

Under the EMPS, incentives for electric two-wheelers (e2Ws) were slashed from Rs 66,000 to Rs 10,000, and for electric three-wheelers (e3Ws) from Rs 111,505 given in FAME to Rs 25,000.

The EV industry hit a new peak in March 2023, the last month of FAME (second phase), with sales surpassing 200,000 vehicles. However, since then, monthly sales have not even reached the 125,000 mark.

But, under the new scheme, just 12,457 units have been sold out of a target of 333,387, achieving 3.7 per cent of the target.

E-rickshaws & e-carts saw only 34 units being sold out of a target of 13,590, a mere 0.3 per cent.

For electric three-wheelers (L5 category), 1,008 units were sold against a target of 25,238, which is 4 per cent, the MHI data reveals.