Lending body proposes battery number inclusion in EV RCs

BENGALURU: Fraudsters are buying electric vehicles (EVs) on finance, selling the vehicle’s new battery, which is often more than 50% of the cost of the vehicle, by installing a used one, defaulting on payments, and surrendering the vehicle.
This is seriously impacting the business of financiers, since the vehicle they receive is of considerably lower value than the one they financed.
So, the Finance Industry Development Council, a representative body for non-bank lenders in the country, has asked Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari to include battery number in the registration certificate of electric vehicles.
This, among other remedies, were part of the letter sent to the ministry as recommendations to solve challenges being faced by financiers of EVs, as per the letter reviewed by TOI.
Addition of battery number in the registration particulars and database of the EVs, in case of vehicles fitted with fixed batteries, just like the chassis number and engine number will help prevent the described unauthorised sale, FDIC said.
“If there is a space constraint in the smart card, then in the case of electric vehicles battery number should be made mandatory instead of the engine number, which is irrelevant in the case of electric vehicles,” the letter said.
Asked about the letter, FIDC director general Mahesh Thakkar said there was no update to share and that the group is looking to meet with the transport ministry sometime in Jan to discuss the recommendations.