Wrongful incentive claims under FAME II may lead OEMs to face legal actions
On Monday, the government would take legal action against
electric vehicle
(EV) makers who refuse to repay incentives that they are said to have improperly earned under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) II plan, a story of Economics Times reported.The corpus and structure of the third leg of the FAME phase-II programme, for which the Centre has allotted Rs 10,000 crore, are still being determined.
Citing a representative the report stated, the businesses who improperly claimed incentives under FAME II would have to pay them back first. The government would only then think about releasing the blocked subsidies to them or enabling them to take part in the programme.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries postponed the delivery of subsidies during the previous fiscal year after receiving anonymous letters suggesting that some firms were claiming subsidies without abiding by the Phased Manufacturing Plan (PMP) requirements, which are designed to increase local manufacturing.
Revolt Intellicorp and Amo Mobility, which are owned by Rattan Enterprises, have decided to repay the funds they received under the FAME II programme, according to officials who spoke to ET. Some corporations have neglected to provide crucial information about their local supplier base, citing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Even though they have only received Rs 85 lakh thus far, Amo Mobility told ET that they passed on the subsidy of Rs 11 crore to guarantee broad adoption. They are hoping for a peaceful resolution to the situation.
Seven companies—Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere EV, Revolt Motors, Benling India, Lohia Auto, and Amo Mobility—were handed collection warnings earlier this fiscal year for allegedly breaking local sourcing rules, totaling Rs 469 crore.
Benling India has requested that the sum owed be taken out of any upcoming payments of subsidies. Invoking limitations imposed by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), Hero Electric has denied to release documents concerning vendors.