Ola Electric to Ather Energy: EV players 'fully refund' wrongful claims

Though the defaulter companies have repaid the Rs 312.42 crore in full, only Rs 183.15 crore has actually reached the customers, the Ministry of Heavy Industries data show

The ex-factory price violators under the scheme Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles-II — Ola Electric, Ather Energy, TVS, and Hero MotoCorp’s Vida — have stumped up the money they owe customers for billing them the price of “off-board chargers”, which come with electric vehicles.

Though the defaulter companies have repaid the Rs 312.42 crore in full, only Rs 183.15 crore has reached the customers, the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) data show.

The companies have put the remaining Rs 129.30 crore in an escrow account managed by IFCI.

The November 30 deadline to refund customers is responsible for the money to be put in the escrow account. The challenges faced by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in obtaining customer information also played a role in it.

“We lacked customer information, including their email addresses and phone numbers, making it impossible for us to contact them. So we opted to refund the money to the government because the deadline was fast approaching,” said a source in an OEM.

On how to refund the remaining customers, another source in an OEM said the companies were obliged to provide proof of this refund in the form of certification. Once the submitted documentation has been verified, the government will disburse the funds to the companies.

Queries sent to the OEMs remained unanswered till press time.

The initial report of the default was first reported by Business Standard on February 7, prompting intensified scrutiny of the matter. While starting investigation into the matter, the ministry halted their subsidies in February.

According to norms under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles-II, the subsidy given to electric two-wheeler (E2W) makers is linked to adherence to a maximum ex-factory price of Rs 1.5 lakh. The MHI in its investigation found that E2W manufacturers had bypassed the subsidy eligibility limit of Rs 1.5 lakh by separating the “EV charger” and the “intrinsic essential software”, which at the core of the vehicle and without which the vehicle cannot run.

These companies have taken approximately Rs 278 crore from around 200,000 customers. The ministry in April ordered the defaulter OEMs to pay back the money with interest.

In April, all four defaulter OEMs accepted their wrongdoing and promised to reimburse consumers for the cost of off-board chargers that they had paid for.

“With ex-factory violators depositing the money, we are confident that PMP (phased manufacturing programme) violators will follow suit. Now, the task is to close the PMP investigation as soon as possible,” a government official said.