If you have bought electric scooters from Ola, Ather Energy, TVS Motor and Hero, then you will be refunded the money for its charger. You can check the price of your charger by going to the break-up section of your scooty bill. After the strict stand of the government, the electric scooter companies have agreed to return the money taken in the name of battery charger for their electric vehicle.
The central government has banned the subsidy of many EV companies under Fame 2. The Ministry of Heavy Industries is probing non-compliance of rules in the matter of subsidy received under FAME 2.
Due to irregularities found in this matter, the government has asked Okinawa Autotech to deposit Rs 116 crore and Hero Electric to deposit Rs 133 crore as compensation.
Effect of pressure
After the pressure of the government, EV companies are finally coming into action. First of all, Ola has announced to return the money of the battery charger taken from the customers. After this, other companies have also announced the same. All these companies together will return a total of about Rs 288 crore to the customers. The companies said that they will refund 100 percent of the amount taken for the off-board charger.
First of all, Ola Scooters decided to return Rs 130 crore to its customers. Ola had charged this money from the customers for the off-board charger. In a letter sent to the Ministry of Heavy Industry, Ola has told that it will refund the amount collected from the customers for the charger. Ather Energy has announced to return Rs 140 crore to its 95,000 customers.
What is the matter?
During the investigation of the Ministry of Heavy Industry of the Central Government, it was found that the Ola company was charging its customers an extra charge of about 20 thousand rupees for the charger. This is a violation of its Fame-2 scheme. After Ola, other e-scooter companies have decided to refund. At the same time, companies will no longer charge any extra from the customers for the charger.
What is FAME-2?
Fame-2 scheme means Faster Adoption of Electronic Vehicles Scheme. The government launched this scheme in 20s19 to promote electric vehicles. Under this, a subsidy of Rs 15,000 per kWh is given to the customer.