(Yicai) Aug. 16 -- Haikou, the capital of China’s southern Hainan province, will set an upper limit on fees paid to recharge electric vehicles after charging pile operators sharply hiked them.

Charging fees must not exceed CNY0.65 (9 US cents) per kilowatt hour from Sept. 1, the Haikou government said in a notice yesterday. For battery swap services, the cap is based on vehicle mileage and is fixed at CNY0.60 per kilometer.

Charging pile operators in the cities of Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Chongqing have markedly put up their prices since last month, with the cost surging 87 percent to more than CNY2 (27 US cents) per kWh at peak times.

The national average is CNY0.4 per kWh, according to Tong Zongqi, deputy secretary-general of the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance. But firms make adjustments based on construction and operating costs in different regions, he said, adding that some hike their fees to shorten the investment payback time.

Firms have raised fees at the same time, so the authorities should look into that to make sure some do not “establish a monopolistic alliance” or “hike such prices based on joint negotiations,” Song Xiangqing, an economist at Beijing Normal University, was quoted as saying by Hunan Daily.

The authorities should take the supply and demand situation and firms’ operating costs into consideration when coming up with guide prices to avoid price distortions, according to market insiders, who also want to see the authorities stiffen regulation of the market to prevent arbitrary fee collection.

EV drivers not only pay charging service fees but also electricity bills. Households pay about CNY0.6 per kWh, while commercial prices for big charging stations range from CNY0.86 to CNY1.8 per kWh. After the recent fee increases, some drivers for ride-hailing services said they have to spend an extra CNY400 or CNY500 (USD54.82 or USD68.53) a month.

Editor: Peter Thomas