An ex-dealer also claims that the company is still selling its electric scooters with FAME II subsidies mentioned on the invoice. According to him, many communications are made to the dealer channel mentioning FAME II openly.
Greaves Electric Mobility debited FAME II subsidies from several dealer accounts, claims Ankur Bansal, who had a Greaves dealership in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
“We were told that the Ministry of Heavy Industries was declining our FAME II claims because of some mistake that we were making in filing for sales in the portal. The money was deducted all of a sudden,” he said.
None of the dealers, according to Bansal, have been given a clarification on why the MHI has chosen not to accept their claims for subsidy reimbursement. Bansal added that several Greaves employees maintain that Greaves is still a part of the FAME II scheme.
“Many from the Greaves office in Delhi have told me the company will receive the FAME II subsidies soon. These will be from all the scooters sold so far,” Bansal said.
Recently, Greaves Electric Mobility (formerly Ampere Electric Vehicles) said it refunded the around Rs 124 crore subsidy it received under the ₹10,000 crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-II) scheme. Importantly, Greaves Electric Mobility was barred from FAME subsides. Bansal highlighted that the company was earlier selling electric scooters under Ampere brand name.
“In light of our commitment to consumer interests, to avoid protracted litigation, and without admitting to any of the allegations, contentions, or statements made in the notice, Greaves Electric Mobility has refunded to the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) the entire incentive claim of Rs 124 crore approximately, along with the accrued interest, and without prejudice to our legal rights,” the company said in a public statement.
Interestingly, an August 2023 invoice of a Greaves electric scooter, shared by Bansal, shows the FAME II amount mentioned in the same. As of now, there is no update on whether Greaves is still a part of the FAME II subsidy scheme or not.
Additionally, the company circulars to its dealer channels, also shared by Bansal, showcase Fame II subsidies mentioned clearly.
For Bansal, the nightmare started, as he said, when he supported a customer whose Greaves electric scooter broke in two parts. The company terminated Bansal’s dealership by saying he was siding with the end consumers and “should not have shared company contacts with the consumer.
Essentially, the company debited money from the dealers’ accounts by saying that their FAME II subsidies were not being approved due to the mistakes dealers made during the filing process. Bansal adds that most of these dealers were unaware that Greaves was barred from FAME II scheme.
“We do not know whether they were importing from China or not. But scooters breaking in two parts meant that the quality was not Indian. Greaves needs to pay me Rs 10 lakh (out of 28 lakh, only 18 was paid in May this year). They have been making me run from pillar to post for the past month,” he said.
To his knowledge, at least 15 dealers are asking for such refunds, and the amount ranges from Rs one crore to Rs 10 crore. He also shared PDF of a bank statement from a dealer based in Rajasthan which shows multiple debit entries for Rs 27,000, that the dealer says was debited as FAME II money by Ampere from their accounts.
We have reached out to Greaves Electric Mobility Team about these allegations levelled by an ex-dealer, and will update their inputs as soon as the same are received.
Update 1 (5.50 PM) – Official statement from Greaves, “This story is factually incorrect, and we categorically deny it. The dealer in question was terminated a few months ago and has since been engaging in a sustained campaign to defame our reputation with malafide intent. We are actively looking into this matter and will not hesitate to take decisive action against the party responsible.”
