Electric vehicle OEMs await subsidies due to delayed certification portal for EMPS rollout

Come April 1, the electric two-wheeler (e2W) and three-wheeler (e3W) manufacturers are in a state of total confusion about whether to continue with the discounts on the vehicles to the customers under the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024.

The scheme, which kicks off from April 1, offers a subsidy of up to ₹10,000 per e2W and ₹25,000 e3W and up to ₹50,000 on heavy e3Ws (autos and commercial units).

• Also read: Total EV registrations touch record levels in March on price cuts and pre-buying

The government, in a Gazette notification on March 13, notified the EMPS 2024 with an outlay of ₹500 crore so that the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) scheme can continue in another form till July.

However, the portal in which companies have to register their certificates to avail the subsidies is not yet in existence. In the absence of this portal, companies will not be able to pass on the benefits to the customer. Their inability to pass on the benefits may seriously impact sales, sources told businessline.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) is required to launch this portal so that the OEMs can upload the Automotive Research Association of India or International Centre for Automotive Technology (ARAI/ ICAT) certificates to get the discounts. Only after these certificates are uploaded can the OEMs pass on the subsidy available in the scheme to the customers.

“The worry for us and the entire industry is that when the customers come on April 1 to buy an electric two-wheeler or three-wheeler, how do we offer a discount of ₹10,000 for the two-wheeler and ₹20,000 for the three-wheelers. We don’t have any go ahead or clarification from the government. What do we do? Neither the dealer nor the company would give any discount from their pockets,” a senior executive in one of the leading OEMs told businessline.

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“The customer wil certainly say that there is a government’s scheme which is in public domain, so why are we not giving the discounts. We need some clarity from the government on this at the earliest,” said the executive.

In any case, there is a delay in the payment of the FAME subsidies, which is coming with a lag of two-three months for most of the companies, industry sources said.

OEMs including Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Hero MotoCorp, Ather, Kinetic Green, Bounce and Mahindra Last Mile Mobility have been concerned about the continuation of any discount in the absence of the portal.

Formal queries sent to companies including Kinetic Green and Mahindra Last Mile Mobility did not elicit any official response.

“At this point in time, we are not commenting,” a spokesperson at Mahindra Last Mile Mobility said.  

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