The Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is seeking to recover Rs 330 crore from Hero Electric for allegedly evading customs duty.

The DRI had sent a show cause notice to the company in December 2020 after claiming that the company imported e-bikes and e-scooters fully assembled and declared them as automobile parts. The DRI claims that these e-bikes and scooters were imported between 2009 and 2014 and from 2017 to 2019.

The show cause notice accessed by CNBC-TV18 said that Hero Electric committed fraud intentionally after proper planning and modus operandi and the DRI would like to recover dues of Rs 330 crore because there has been a strong violation of customs duties.

Hero Electric responded by saying, "We are compliant as required by the law and the issue referred here is more than 3.5 years old. Given the difference in policy and interpretation several businesses in the sector of engineering and consumer goods have got successfully reprieved from the court a year back on the same interpretation. DRI being a responsible authority continues to seek information across sectors on the same and we are sharing the same appropriately."

The government has already stopped the flow of subsidies to Hero Electric under the FAME scheme for not meeting the domestic value addition criteria.

Responding to CNBC-TV18's query, Hero Electric said the company is compliant with the law -- adding that it has been granted a stay order and no duties have been paid. "No duties have been paid- it is already clear from our earlier statement. As all other companies, we have been granted stay order".

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First Published:Sept 14, 2022 10:53 PM IST