Costs in the millions

Sharp criticism of lavish subsidies for e-cars

During the coronavirus crisis, subsidies for e-cars were significantly increased. This caused a rush. This was intended to help the economy.

(Bild: Huber Patrick)

The enormous rush for the state subsidy resulted in additional costs of millions in 2021. Controls were previously inadequate, as the Salzburg State Court of Audit found during its audit.

Funding freeze! On March 8, 2021, the state government had to suspend subsidies for electric cars. This was because the annual budget reserved for this had already been exceeded in the first two months. The rush was caused by the coronavirus crisis. The federal government increased the subsidies and the state of Salzburg doubled them. As a result, companies were able to collect over 20,000 euros per vehicle in some cases.

The Salzburg State Court of Audit therefore took a close look at the subsidies. To summarize: The controls and the risk analysis were inadequate. By reallocating the budget, it was at least possible to pay out those applications that were received before the stop. This resulted in total costs of more than ten million euros for the state.

Court of Audit is in favor of a central funding office
The increase in the Corona year 2020 as a boost for the economy caused the number of applications to explode. Kommunalkredit Public Consulting GmbH (KPC) was commissioned to process and disburse the federal and state funding.

"And this despite the fact that the state had only limited knowledge of the processes and controls within KPC," says Ludwig Hillinger, Director of the Salzburg State Court of Audit. As a result, the state saw the coming disaster too late. For Hillinger, all of the state's subsidies should be bundled in a central office in the future. The expertise and experience would be available.