New Delhi: 7 electric two-wheeler (EV) companies, including Hero Electric and Okinawa, have committed fraud to avail the FAM-2 scheme. After which the government has now ordered these companies to pay 469 crore rupees. Among the guilty companies are Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere EV, Revolt Motors, Benling India, Amo Mobility and Lohia Auto. The central government has sanctioned seven electric two-wheeler manufacturers, including Hero Electric and Okinawa, for claiming incentives under the FAME-II scheme of Rs. 469 crore has been asked to be refunded. A government official said on Monday that in case of non-payment of this amount, all these companies will be removed from the Fame-II scheme within seven-ten days. Apart from this they will also not be allowed to participate in this incentive scheme.
The government has launched the FAME-2 scheme from the year 2019 to promote the rapid adoption and production of electric vehicles. An incentive amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been allocated for this. According to the official, seven companies claiming incentives under the scheme have been found guilty of violating the prescribed provisions. Investigations by the Ministry of Heavy Industries have revealed that these companies have taken incentives in violation of prescribed norms.
An official of the Ministry of Heavy Industries said that six companies have been sanctioned in our investigation, but seven companies have been found guilty of violating norms. We are demanding Rs 469 crore from them. They have to return this amount to the government. An investigation was conducted based on this complaint. Two of the seven companies have agreed to return the incentive amount with interest, the official said.
In this regard, a spokesperson of Hero Electric said that the company had no lapse in compliance during the period for which the notice was issued. Hence this notice is not relevant to the company. On the other hand, Ayush Lohia, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lohia Auto, said that we would like to say that we have not received any information or notification from any department of the government regarding refund of subsidy. While Okinawa Autotech and Revolt Motors declined to comment on the matter.