Dont try to patronize … You are trying to fool whom? The FAME incentive eligibility comes ONLY if vehicle is priced below 1.50 Lakhs - but then if your vehicle is priced above 1.5Lakhs - individuals will NOT get FAME subsidy but Ather also will lose the Govt support for EV! So Ather will lose more than customers!
Kind sir, we are all owners here on the forum and can confirm that we HAVE received the subsidy. So yeah, speaking from experience, to say the least.
Just putting it out there, I hope you realize the people posting here are almost always owners and not Ather employees, right?
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Yeah …i have also received the FAME incentive…shown as adjustment in the first Invoice … And then the second Invoice shows the balance amount …thus adjusting all the 1.7 or 1.8 that you have been billed for. My objection is this misleading and wrong trade practice of issuing two Invoice for one product… And trying to fool the customer…by communicating that this is for Customer’s benefit to claim FAME 2 incentive. In reality Ather is benefiting as it get all the Govt incentives & benefits for EV manufacturing … Without the FAME 2 incentive of 29K, do you really think this many buyers will be there for a 2 Lakhs priced scooter? Now that Lithium Battery cost too is coming down over 90%! What is this high cost for?
Okay, before a response comes through, could you please clarify what you mean by this?
Are you saying that by passing on the incentive to the customer, Ather stands to gain somehow?
Ah wait, I see the confusion here.
So I guess you thought Ather uses the second bill to collect the FAME incentive given to the customer? Quite the contrary: they allow you to collect FAME by making the first bill, and then collects the remaining amount OF THE SCOOTER (not FAME subsidy, mind you) using the second bill.
Or are you talking of something else?
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Just for everyone’s reference. This is for my order from Delhi.
Here we go again…the “cheating thread” of this Forum was closed recently and I thought it’d end there. it hasn’t unfortunately. I’ll try one more time to explain with a little more background.
Due to the global environmental situation the world is moving and has to move towards this electrification. It is a disruptive change and is shaking the foundation of mobility industry. Major portion of the new vehicles have to be build afresh. it is not easy and it is expensive. Remember the current ICE vehicle is 150years old and over so many years, it has improved and after so many years of mass production, things have become cheaper and affordable. EVs are starting now and hence they are expensive. Ather is expensive - like Nexon is, like E2O was, like Chetak is, like iQube is. This deters people from adopting them. But there is no go, we have to move towards EVs. So to help people move towards EVs, Governments across the globe provide subsidies. In India it is called by the name FAME (Faster adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicles).
FAME is setup in the following way
- Ex factory cost of the vehicle is what a manufacturer incurs to manufacture the vehicle (₹1,49,999 in case of Ather). This satisfies the subsidy precondition that the Ex-Factory price should be below ₹1.5L for a two wheeler.
- For every vehicle purchased by a citizen, the Government pays the manufacturer some amount depending on defined conditions (this is ₹29,000 in case of Ather).
- This subsidy is only paid to the manufacturer against an Aadhar card produced by the purchaser. GOVERNMENT WILL NOT REFUND ANYTHING TO THE PURCHASER DIRECTLY. This is how the the burden on the citizen is reduced. Without this subsidy (or with a pay now and get a refund later) the citizen may not even think of buying the vehicle.
So there is no question of Ather retaining the subsidy to themselves and not passing it on to the customer…that’s how the process is. I don’t see any wrong trade practice when you’re getting a tax paid invoice for every rupee that you’ve paid.
moving further with the pricing…GST, dealer margin, Logistics, charger, Discounts if any, are all applied to the ex-factory price which brings the ex showroom price to ₹1,39,990 in Bengaluru and ₹1,27,916 in Delhi.
Now the performance pack - it’s an additional thing that the purchaser wishes to have and he’s ready to pay ₹19,010 for that added performance. Basically there is only one vehicle manufactured by Ather (and homologated by ARAI) at their factory and that is the 450+. For the X factor customer is paying more.
Below is the price breakup for you in excel for better understanding.
The performance pack is like an accessory. The purchaser wishes for something extra and he pays for it. Government will not provide any subsidy to this and rightly so. Sports edition, Iron man special, MSD special, Wimbledon special, World cup special… we have so many variants in the market (at an additional cost to the base vehicle. Just like that, the 450X and the Series1 are special variants of the 450+.
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No need to try and pull wool over eyes… most Consumers will not go into the nitty gritty or breakup in the Invoice… Here are my points:
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Is Ather charging ONLY the amount mentioned in the First Invoice? Rs 156,916? NO. Ather is printing First Invoice in this fashion, ADJUSTING the FAME Incentive to SHOW that invoice seems less than 1.5 Lakhs. Ather charges ADDITIONAL amount of almost 20K for something they call “UPGRADE” and you are therefore charged almost 1.8 Lakhs
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Why is Ather doing this? How can one Raise TWO INVOICES for same product? Ather is Trying to show that its helping Consumers by keeping Invoice less than 1.5 Lakhs so that Ather Scooter STAYS ELIGIBLE FOR FAME II incentive
Question 3) Did consumer ASK for you to adjust FAME 2 Incentive? Answer: No. Ather never INFORMS any Consumer in advance about FAME II incentive
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Ather is Trying to show its helping Consumers by keeping Invoice less than 1.5 Lakhs to STAY ELIGIBLE FOR all FAME II incentive.
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What happens if Ather Cost in Invoice shows the REAL COST of Rs 2 Lakhs? Answer: Consumer is NOT eligible for FAME II incentive of 29 Lakhs. Ather loses all benefits/ discounts/ incentives from Govt levies as now the EV vehicle is …something NOT IN LINE with Govt Guidelines
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Did I, as a Consumer, ASK for the 20K upgrade? No, I didnt. Take it Back.
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I was told that the 20K software upgrade is what makes Ather 450X different from Ather 450. In that case the First INVOICE should be for Ather 450 & second Invoice should be Upgrade.
This is wrongful Trade practice. Not to say about fooling Govt.
- The "Performance Pack* is something that i WAS NOT INFORMED in advance
- I Didnt WANT any Performance Pack
- If Performance Pack is NOT Ather 450X then the First Invoice should be only for Ather 450. And Believe me, …after riding over 1800 Kms in 3 months…Ather is a wonderful scooter, but a city ride. You dont need Performance Pack.. Its just 20K in pocket of Ather charged for what? Additionally you pay some 4-5 K for subscription of Ather Grid/ network - WHICH DOESN’T WORK HALF THE TIME …
And you try calling / reaching out during any emergency, you cant get thru …the fastest response takes over 90 minutes…
Continuing the discussion from FAME Subsidy:
I NEVER Asked for any Performance Pack. In fact, this Performance pack makes the Scooter dangerous.… it gives unbelievable pickup and torque is also uncomparable… But without any ABS kind of breaking mechanism, the pickup is uncontrollable…and scooter will tend to skid when your apply brakes!
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So, are you saying you bought Ather 450 Plus, but was given Ather 450X? Because if you bought Ather 450X, you opted for the features that are provided by the performance pack. The rest of the Ather customers would be raging if they bought a 450X but were given a scooter without those features…
No…dont play around with my statements…
Ather benefits - ONLY when Consumer is credited with Fame II incentives…right? So of course, it works that way… I only object to being saddled with 20K worth Performance Pack that I never asked!
I NEVER Asked for any Performance Pack. What Upgrade is this In fact, this Performance pack makes the Scooter dangerous.… it gives unbelievable pickup and torque is also uncomparable… But without any ABS kind of breaking mechanism, the pickup is uncontrollable…and scooter will tend to skid when your apply brakes! Blutooth feature is NOT YET activated…
Did you take a test ride and were you made aware of the price too? And what includes in there?
This statement surprised me to no end:
The website references it in every place where relevant, as seen in the image I shared above. Any more reference and they will need to airdrop screenshots of pricing sheet to people’s houses! 
I sincerely hope you are aware that people have been using Ather scooters for over 2 years now and is NOT something that has just been launched. I can assure you it’s not like you accelerate and will end up travelling through time or anything. This performance pack does not - I repeat DOES NOT - make the scooter any more dangerous than other comparable scooters in the market (and any skidding you see would be along the lines of what you see with other scooters in most cases).
Which brings me to the next point:
I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I need to call out that there are a lot of nuances around Ather ownership that someone who recently bought it might not be fully aware of. So the best policy would be to spend some time reading through relevant posts on the Forum and familiarising oneself with things. The last thing that should happen is someone completely misreading the invoice, deciding that they have understood the complete truth, and only coming to the Forum to state what they now believe is the reality, than actually asking to understand if they are interpreting everything correctly. Hopefully, that’s not what is happening here 
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Yes, you did. Ather cannot adjust the subsidy without your consent. Your sign on the subsidy form, you providing your Aadhar number for the same is all your Consent to that
Yes, you have. If you’ve booked a 450x, YOU’VE DEFINITELY ASKED for the performance pack. Only if you’ve booked the 450+, you’ve not asked for it.
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I believe the name ‘Performance Pack’ was chosen to be in-line with market trend.
Otherwise, what they meant is: Wrap all features above 450 plus, give it a name, make it as optional. They could have named it as “Super Pack”, “Bonus Pack” or whatever. But, if customer is buying 450X (over 450+) knows that they paid the extra amount for extra features in 450X.
Yes, many customers might be surprised to hear the term ‘Performance Pack’. But, definitely they know they paid extra for (Bluetooth, Extra Performance, Extra Range).
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Hey, Please have patience and take the invoice to your accountant and let him have quick check over the invoices u have received from Ather and show him the Ather website n all, let him get the clarity and for sure he will explain u in more detail.
A quick search would have got you this.
Please don’t create any kind of misunderstandings between you and the new comers to Ather family as well as the existing ones. (I agree, that I too thought the same way as u think that Ather is getting benefited from FAME but after a clear thorough research about FAME SUBSIDY I understood the details as it needs to be understood. )
Subsidy topic has a small confusion, Even if we explain to customers or the new owners might trigger a different response, But they lack at the time of purchase asking all the questions there and then when the invoices are received they feel frustrated. I’m not going to take any sides but have you seen ICE invoices? I felted cheated so many times, I own 3 ICE scooters 1 bike 1 a car, in all the invoices they charge all the stupid things like transport charge, Handling charges, washing charges and whatnot.
To be clear Ather has already clarified many times that " Consumer will not receive the FAME subsidy, It’s for the Manufacturer" and the prices on their website are true to be fair, crystal clear. Now about the invoicing into 2 different part yes as Hemanth has said they have to meet the criteria of Govt. which regulates how the FAME will be allocated if it doesn’t meet those then are you ready to spend 2.3lacs on a scooter? 1.89 lac for scooter + registration charges + road tax if any + insurance? So split invoicing is the idea they have come up with
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