Mobility

Inside Ola Electric, Ather’s race against time to refund customers

Pranav Balakrishnan

October 17, 2023 | 7 Min Read

In May, EV two-wheeler makers Ather, Ola Electric, Hero MotoCorp, and TVS Motors agreed to refund customers to the tune of Rs 278 crore after being accused of mispricing their scooters. Despite originally committing to a November deadline, however, EV makers are still scrambling to comply.

On October 12, reports surfaced that Ather Energy, Ola Electric, TVS Motor, and Hero MotoCorp had collectively deposited Rs 129 crore with the government. This follows on from a government probe earlier this year, which found that the EV two-wheeler manufacturers had effectively gamed the government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles, or FAME-II, scheme.

The four companies were found to have mispriced their EVs by billing customers for the chargers and software of their vehicles separately. This allowed them to keep the price of their vehicles below Rs 1,50,000 in order for them to qualify for subsidies under FAME-II.

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