Indian electric vehicle (EV) makers such as Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Hero MotoCorp (VIDA), and TVS Motor Company have announced refunds to all the customers that purchased portable chargers along with their electric scooters. The move comes after the Centre announced that it would block paying out incentives to EV makers in India, under the upcoming FAME II scheme for charging customers to purchase EV chargers separately from the electric scooter.
According to reports, the EV makers will refund close to Rs. 300 crore in order to be eligible again for the incentives offered by the government under the scheme, For this, Ola Electric and Ather issued notices on their social media platforms announcing refunds to the tune of Rs. 180 crore and Rs. 140 crore respectively.
Hero MotoCorp (VIDA) and TVS Motor Company are reportedly going to reimburse customers with Rs. 18 crore.
The Society of Manufacturers Of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) welcomed the move by the Ministry to start settling pending issues of OEMs and bring the sector back to its feet.
Sohinder Gill, Director General, SMEV said, “The beginning of the resolution of disputed issues for OEMs augurs well for the sector. It is time that the sector is allowed to stand on its feet again and efforts to revive the e-mobility sector can begin.”
Terming the news about the Ministry giving clean chits to various companies as a move in the right direction, Gill said that the sector was desperate for a resolution of the subsidy blockade that has all but choked the sector for the last 15 months.
Companies like Hero Electric, Okinawa, and Ampere, which were market leaders in FY19 and FY20 with 82 per cent share of the market, have reported a drastic drop in sales and were able to muster only a 24 per cent market share in April ‘23.
SMEV believes that if these companies are not revived, the organisations that built the EV ecosystem for the initial 10 years or more may have to shut down, setting a bad example in the EV world, including the global investment funds.
