In a bid to streamline the payment procedure and consequential irregularities, the Odisha government on Friday released guidelines for interest-free advance payment to employees wishing to purchase electric vehicles (EV).
In a notice, the Finance department observed that the provisions / guidelines for electric vehicle advance are not being meticulously followed by the Departments while sanctioning the advance in favour of their employees.
With a view to streamline and maintain uniformity in procedure and avoid consequential irregularities in sanctioning such advances, the department laid down some provisions / guidelines to be strictly followed by the sanctioning authorities.
1) The advance for purchase of electric vehicles by the state government employees will be available only up to December 31, 2025. The application received after the expiry of the policy period will not be considered
2) The interest free advance for purchase of electric motor cars will be available only to Group-A & Group-B category of government employees. The advance amount is limited to 75% of the cost of the electric vehicle (Ex-showroom Price) subject to maximum of Rs 15 lakh
3) The interest free advance for purchase of electric two-wheelers (electric motor cycle / scooter / invalid carriages etc.) will be available to Group-C and Group-D Government employees and above. The advance amount is limited to 75% of the cost of the electric vehicle (Ex-showroom Price) subject to maximum of Rs 2 lakh.
4) The advance amount will be recovered in maximum of 100 consecutive monthly instalments from subsequent months. Recovery of the advance will be regulated in such a manner that the same can be recovered before one year of the date of superannuation. In case, the Government employee retires or expires without payment of full amount of loan, the residual amount needs to be recovered from their arrear salary bill, leave salary bill, pension, Commutation pension or gratuity before its disbursements. If he/she resign/quits from Government Service, the amount will be recovered under OPDR Act.
5) If the Government servant so desires he will be allowed to repay the instalment in advance.
6) The government employees who will avail the advance have to furnish the copy of Registration Certificate, insurance and retail invoice of the vehicles to sanctioning authority within 3 months from the date of release of the advances.
7) The Government employees who are eligible for both electric (four wheeler & two wheeler) vehicle advance can avail either of the advance at a time.
After introducing a portal for release of subsidy on purchase of electric vehicles (EVs), the State government had announced to provide interest free advance to its employees in April 2022.
The Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 had promised a slew of incentives, including interest-free advance to government employees to promote EVs in the State to control the pollution emerging from fossil fuel used in vehicles.