E-2W companies request customers to refund rebate after subsidy cancellation: SMEV

In an odd move, many manufacturers of electric vehicles, including

Hero Electric

, Benling, and Ammo Mobility, have asked the MHI for permission to contact the consumer to request a refund for a product that was sold to them at a cheaper price.

The idea is based on a precedent that MHI previously established about four OEMs who were accused of overcharging consumers. In that case, the MHI decided that the OEMs had to reimburse the customers for the overpriced amounts.

These

EV

manufacturers together wrote to the Society of Electric Vehicle Manufacturers Association to request money from the consumers in order to stay alive. They were caught between a loss-making operation and unpaid penalty fees that needed to be paid to the government.

The group was concerned that the afflicted car makers could have to declare bankruptcy given the hefty fine imposed by the government on these automakers and a considerable slowdown in sales over the last 18 months due to disruptions in sales.

An unexpected but clear potential for a rational solution has surfaced, and the OEMs have come around to embracing it as the best under the circumstances, according to SMEV, after multiple talks with EV manufacturers and those who are affected by MHI's choices over the previous 18 months.

Sanjay Kaul has proposed the following approaches in a letter to Hon'ble Minister, MHI Shri Mahendra Nath Pandey in an effort to quickly resolve this long-standing issue.

Since OEMs in this case passed on subsidies that MHI later determined were not owing to OEMs, SMEV has requested that they be permitted to reclaim them from consumers and give them back to the MHI, voiding the account.

It is important to keep in mind that the department recently fined some OEMs for overcharging customers and then asked them to return the money. The letter states that it is feasible to collect the money MHI is requesting from the other set of OEMs for non-compliance from the consumers in a similar manner and return it to the Department.

According to the letter, the consumers who got such subsidies can be required to return these to OEMs in all fairness as the MHI is indicating that the subsidies handed along to customers by OEMs now stand revoked, due to technical grounds determined upon by MHI thereafter.

These automakers have shown a readiness to provide the Department with consumer information that may be impacted by public notice. According to SMEV, they are also willing to issue a public notice instructing such clients to return any excess refunds or subsidies they have received.