The government approved, on Thursday, the budget of the 2025 Rabla Auto Program and the list of priority projects funded from the Environmental Fund. The program will start on Monday, September 15, with the validation of auto manufacturers.
However, representatives of car manufacturers and importers expressed dissatisfaction with the value of the vouchers, especially those for electric vehicles, which have been halved.
Manufacturer Validation Stage
The Environmental Fund Administration (AFM) is organizing the validation session for manufacturers and auto dealers between September 15, 10:00, and September 17, 23:59. They must submit the documents specified in the funding guide. The new funding guide has been published in the Official Gazette and is available on the website www.afm.ro.
Manufacturers validated previously retain their status but must sign a new contract with AFM. The contract will be transmitted through an application, signed electronically, and must be uploaded within two working days of receiving the notification. Failure to upload within the deadline is equivalent to refusal to participate.
Value of Eco-vouchers
The program has a budget of 200 million lei, and the value of the eco-vouchers is as follows:
- 18,500 lei - for new 100% electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles;
- 15,000 lei - for plug-in hybrids or electric motorcycles;
- 12,000 lei - for new hybrid vehicles;
- 10,000 lei - for vehicles with internal combustion engines (including LPG/CNG) or motorcycles.
Launch of Session for Individuals
At the end of September, a session dedicated to individuals will be launched, allowing them to access funds for purchasing new, less polluting vehicles.
"By allocating a budget of 200 million lei, approximately 15,000 new vehicles can be introduced to the market, reducing polluting emissions and improving quality of life," said Florin Bănică, president of AFM.
Auto Industry Criticizes the New Rabla Program
The final form of the 2025 Rabla Program has sparked dissatisfaction among members of the Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Importers (APIA), who expressed deep dissatisfaction with how the Ministry of Environment managed the public debate for the program.
"Romania needs a Rabla program that is a real instrument of transformation, not a scheme that repeats past mistakes," emphasizes APIA. The association calls for an efficient and bold program, "placing electromobility where it belongs: at the center of Romania's environmental and transport policies."
Public Consultation, "A Formal Exercise"
According to APIA, the consultation process proved to be "merely a formal exercise, without practical consequences."
"Despite numerous written submissions, well-founded technical documents, and discussions held during the official consultation, none of the substantive proposals were adopted," the statement transmitted indicates.
Representatives of the auto industry state that they also had a direct meeting with the Minister of Environment, Diana Buzoianu, where they presented "detailed arguments and concrete solutions, including the need to increase the eco-voucher for electric vehicles to 27,500 lei."
"We appreciated the openness and constructive tone of the dialogue, but the final guide published proves that these arguments were ultimately ignored. In practice, the document remains unchanged from the initial version, sending a worrying signal: the voice of specialists and the auto market does not matter in the decision-making process," specifies APIA.
The association mentions that the level of the eco-voucher for electric cars has been drastically reduced to 18,500 lei, although weak demand from the previous year shows that this amount does not stimulate the market.
"On paper, this would mean that, out of the allocated 120 million lei, a larger number of cars could be financed. In reality, however, the experience of the last year is clear: demand was weak, the budget remained unspent, and electromobility stagnated," say those at APIA.
APIA Proposal: Greater Support for Electric Vehicles
The auto industry proposed increasing the eco-voucher to 27,500 lei for electric and hydrogen vehicles, allocating 70% of the budget to these and plug-in hybrids. The rest would have been distributed to other technologies.
"We are aware that even in this scenario, the budget would not have been fully utilized. However, the major difference is that, with stronger support, market penetration would have been significantly higher, and electromobility would have had the chance to enter a growth trajectory," the statement says.
Rabla Program Finally Starts
The government approved, at the proposal of the Ministry of Environment, the new Rabla Auto Program for individuals, with a budget of 200 million lei.
Registrations begin next week, and the process remains unchanged, as does the value of the vouchers for vehicles with internal combustion engines, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids.
The only change is the reduction of the voucher for electric cars from 37,000 lei to 18,500 lei. "The funds allocated for the Rabla 2025 Program amount to 200 million lei. Supplementing this fund is not possible for this year, but we are considering other options for the future," said Minister of Environment Diana Buzoianu.