Ather Energy to complete EV charger refund process by this date

Ather Energy has followed Ola Electric and issued statement regarding refund of EV charger costs paid by its customers. The EV maker has announced that it will reimburse the affected customers soon as the deadline to initiate the process will be completed in the next two weeks. Ather, along with other electric two-wheeler manufacturers like Ola Electric, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor have agreed to refund the cost of EV chargers that were invoiced separately to customers in an apparent irregularity in the FAME II subsidy guidelines.

Ather Energy said that all customers who bought its electric scooters like 450X, 450 or 450 Plus before April 12 and paid separately for the EV charger will be eligible for the refund. The EV maker will send emails to all the customers regarding the refund process within the next two weeks. Ather's statement read, "In order to be fair to customers who had bough the vehicle prior to this change we have decided to refund the invoiced amount of the chargers for vehicles bought before April 12, 2023."

The Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer said that the cost of the EV charger was not part of the bundle that came along with its electric scooters earlier. The company said that it had been in talks with the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) on the topic of including charger costs in the overall ex-showroom price of the electric scooters. The statement issued by Ather says, “While there is no legal compliance requirement to bundle chargers, after discussions with MHI and in the larger interest of the EV ecosystem, we recently made the change to bundle the charger with the vehicle."

Earlier, Ola Electric also announced that it will refund its customers who had paid separately for the EV chargers. Hero and TVS too have complied. Ather or Ola have not officially revealed the exact amount of refund yet. However, according to reports, Ather and Ola will collectively refund nearly ₹270 crore to 1.90 lakh customers. (Read full report here)

The government had stopped issuing subsidies worth ₹800 crore after finding the loophole which made customers pay for the chargers separately. Since then, most of the electric vehicle manufacturers have made the amendment, and now offer EV home chargers as part of the vehicle's invoice.

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