Ather Energy has followed up with Ola Electric and issued a statement regarding the refund of EV charger fees paid by its customers. The electric car maker announced that it will compensate affected customers as quickly as possible once the deadline for the start-up process is met within the next two weeks. Ather, along with other electric two-wheeler makers such as Ola Electric, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor, have agreed to refund the cost of EV chargers that were clearly non-compliant under the FAME II subsidy guidelines and were therefore separately invoiced to customers.
Ather Energy said all customers who purchased one of its electric scooters (like the 450X, 450 or 450 Plus) before April 12 and paid for the EV charger separately will be eligible for a refund. The EV manufacturer will email all customers about the refund process within the next two weeks. “In order to be fair to customers who purchased vehicles prior to this change, we have decided to refund the charger invoice amount for vehicles purchased prior to April 12, 2023,” Ather’s statement read.
The Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler maker said the cost of the EV charger was not included in the earlier bundle for its e-scooters. The company said it has been in talks with the Ministry of Heavy Industry (MHI) on the topic of including the charger cost in the overall ex-factory price of the e-scooters. Ather issued a statement saying, “While there is no legal compliance requirement for bundling chargers, following discussions with MHI we have recently made a change to bundling chargers with vehicles for the greater good of the electric vehicle ecosystem. “
Earlier, Ola Electric also announced that it would refund customers who purchased the EV charger separately. Hero and TVS complied too. Ather or Ola have not officially revealed the exact amount of the refund.However, it is reported that Arthur and Ola are close to a collective refund. ¥2.7 billion to 190,000 customers. (read the full report here)
The government has stopped issuing value subsidies ¥$8 billion lost after discovery of loophole that made customers pay for chargers separately. Since then, most EV manufacturers have made amends and now offer EV home chargers as part of the vehicle invoice.
First published date: May 4, 2023 at 15:56 PM CST
https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/ather-energy-electric-scooters-bought-before-april-12-to-get-ev-charger-refund-in-two-weeks-41683194265955.html