"While the government is providing assistance (with the subsidy), the public seems not too interested in it. That is the main topic of discussion. We are currently evaluating it," he informed in Jakarta on Monday.
In his statement, he outlined three reasons that may be responsible for the slow growth in electric motorbike purchases.
To begin with, the subsidy policy is not yet widely known to the public, added to the fact that the policy was implemented only recently, he said.
The subsidy on electric motorbike purchases was laid down in the Industry Minister's Regulation No. 6 of 2023 regarding the guidelines for the distribution of government assistance for the purchase of two-wheeled battery-based electric vehicles.
The regulation stipulates that the subsidy will be disbursed in the form of a discount of Rp7 million on the purchase of each electric motorbike. The subsidy was rolled out on March 20, 2023.
The second reason is closely related to a platform called SISAPIRa (Information System for Assistance in Purchasing Two-Wheeled Electric Vehicles), he said. Like the subsidy policy, information regarding the SISAPIRa platform has not been disseminated properly among the public.
"The information on the subsidy is not yet well-circulated in the society. This leads everyone to be confused and waiting," Moeldoko pointed out.
The third reason concerns the point of view of related business actors, he said. Business actors, especially vehicle dealers, have voiced concerns regarding tax refund provision, he added.
Moeldoko, who is concurrently serving as chairperson of the Indonesian Electric Vehicle Industry Association (Periklindo), said that the issue related to tax refunds has been discussed with Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
All three possible reasons have led the government to evaluate its electric motorbike subsidy policy, he added.
He expressed the hope that the sales target of 200 thousand electric motorbikes and 35.9 thousand electric cars would be realized by this year.
As cited on the webpage of SISAPIRa on Monday, the remaining subsidy quotas for electric motorbikes were recorded at 199,506 units, with two units in the verification stage and 489 in the registration stage, with none distributed to buyers so far.
Related news: Need to develop EV ecosystem in ASEAN: minister
Related news: Indonesia seeks further partnering with South Korea on EV development
Translator: Immatul Silfia, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
