Ather, TVS, Hero MotoCorp to refund buyers for EV chargers
Ather Energy, TVS and Hero MotoCorp are also going to refund customers for overpricing of Electric chargers.
Following Ola Electric, the other EV makers like Ather Energy, TVS and Hero MotoCorp are also going to refund customers for overpricing of Electric chargers. The e-scooters were ordered to refund the customers after finding that chargers were being billed separately, which is a violation of the FAME II guidelines.
For your information, Ola Electric announced that it would refund the cost of the charger to its customers earlier this week. Now, other EV makers have followed suit.
According to a media report, India’s top four electric scooter makers, Ather Energy, Ola Electric, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor Company, will have to reimburse a total of nearly Rs 288 crore to customers who were billed separately for EV chargers.
Out of the Rs 288 crore, Ather Energy will refund Rs 140 crore to 95,000 customers who purchased the 450X up to April 12, 2023. TVS will reimburse Rs 15.61 crore to 87,000 customers who purchased the iQube S between May 2, 2022 and March 2023, while Hero MotoCorp will refund Rs 2.23 crore to 1,100 buyers who have bought the Vida V1 Plus and V1 Pro. Meanwhile, Ola will refund Rs 130 crore to 100,000 customers who purchased ‘Ola S1Pro model’ till 30 March.
EV markers were investigated by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) for allegedly mispricing their products to qualify for incentives under the government’s Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme.
Under the scheme, EV buyers are eligible to get up to 40% subsidy, amounting to as high as Rs 60,000 per scooter. The ministry has asked the OEMs to offer a refund to customers for the amount they’ve paid for the chargers retrospectively. The portable chargers were to be included in the price of the electric vehicle.
As per the policy, electric 2-wheelers that cost more than Rs 1.50 lakh are not eligible for benefits under the scheme. Also, chargers and proprietary software cannot be sold by a company at an additional cost.
Ms Kalinga