The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), the apex body representing electric vehicle manufacturers in India has written a letter to the Heavy Industry Ministry proposing that EV makers who have been allegedly found guilty of misappropriation of FAME 2 subsidy be allowed to recover the already passed on subsidies from customers.
The apex body says that after discussions with EV manufacturers, and those who are impacted by the Ministry of Heavy Industries’ decision is an unusual possibility for a logical solution has emerged and the OEMs have come around to accepting it as the best under the circumstances.
Some OEMs have collectively written to the newly appointed Chief Evangelist of SMEV, Sanjay Kaul with a consensus on plausible steps and practical solutions that they believe works for all.
In a letter written by Kaul to Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Heavy Industries (MHI), they have proposed that since affected OEMs have already passed on subsidies, which subsequently MHI has ruled as unpayable to OEMs, they be allowed to recover these from customers and return it back to the MHI, annulling the account.
Recovering subsidies from customers
The proposal draws upon the earlier precedent set by MHI as regards 4 OEMs (read Ola Electric, Ather Energy, TVS Motor Co, and Vida) who were accused of overcharging customers. In that case, the Heavy Industry had ruled that the OEMs must return the overcharged sums to customers.
The letter notes that the department levied a penalty on some OEMs a few months ago for overcharging the customers and then asked them to return the amounts, it is possible that the monies that MHI is demanding from the other set of OEMs for non-compliance, can be similarly recovered by them from the customers and returned to the Department.
Furthermore, Kaul in his letter said, “Since the MHI is suggesting that the subsidies passed on to customers by OEMs now stand cancelled, due to technical reasons decided by MHI subsequently, the customers who have taken such subsidies can be asked to return these to OEMs in all fairness.”
The EV makers have indicated a willingness to share customer data with the Department so that this may be affected by a public announcement. They are also open to taking out a Public Notice asking such customers to deposit back the excess rebates they had received as subsidies, under the Department’s guidance.
