The owner or operator of a charging station sets the tariff for its connectors. Smart Fuel Pass and Ultima Payments collect payments and settle income for the charging service delivered.
This guide explains registered and unregistered driver charging, roaming and free charging at your own station. Unless stated otherwise, all example amounts and fees are exclusive of VAT. VAT is shown separately on the applicable tax document.
When payment is settled and the tax document is created
For every correctly completed paid charging session, financial settlement happens immediately. The driver's payment, the station owner or operator's income and the applicable Smart Fuel Pass fee are settled at once.
Only a possible fee for free charging at your own station is invoiced separately each month.
The tax document is created twice a month:
- for charging from the 1st to the 15th day of the month, on the 16th day;
- for charging from the 16th day to month end, on the 1st day of the following month.
Smart Fuel Pass prepares a self-billing invoice in your name to Smart Fuel Pass. Download it from the portal and record it in your accounting as required by your contract. It is marked as paid because it represents income already settled for the period.
Registered driver: Tariff 1
Tariff 1 applies to a driver with a registered Smart Fuel Pass account. A 9% Smart Fuel Pass service fee applies to a paid registered-driver session.
Example
If registered drivers pay a total of EUR 100 excluding VAT for charging on a connector, the station owner or operator may receive EUR 91 excluding VAT and EUR 9 excluding VAT is the Smart Fuel Pass fee. Applicable VAT is shown separately on the tax document.
Unregistered driver: Tariff 2
Tariff 2 applies to an unregistered driver paying through a payment terminal or web payment gateway, for example by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. It is higher than Tariff 1 and is normally set about 20% higher.
For Tariff 2, no separate 9% Tariff 1 fee is deducted from the station owner or operator. Their income is based on Tariff 1. The difference between the higher Tariff 2 paid by the unregistered driver and Tariff 1 is the Smart Fuel Pass fee for processing a one-off payment.
Example
- Tariff 1 for a registered driver: EUR 100 excluding VAT
- Tariff 2 for an unregistered driver: EUR 120 excluding VAT
- paid by the unregistered driver: EUR 120 excluding VAT
- income of the station owner or operator: EUR 100 excluding VAT
- no separate 9% fee is deducted from that session
Roaming charging
A station owner or operator can activate roaming for their contract. At activation, AC, DC and UFC roaming prices are shown for the country in which they are registered as a station owner or operator.
Only cards and apps of partners participating in the Smart Fuel Pass network can use roaming. The partner list is expanded gradually. A 9% Smart Fuel Pass fee applies to a roaming session.
Free charging at your own station
Free charging is a session where energy actually passed through the connector, but no financial settlement was created. This may happen at a public location when the station owner or operator grants a 100% discount to their client account, or at a private location with a free tariff. A technical session with no energy delivered is not free charging.
Employee home charging (home reimbursement)
If a company invites its employee into a company home-charging relationship and the employee's home charger is connected to Smart Fuel Pass, the employee can charge a company vehicle at home at the agreed tariff per delivered kWh. The sessions show a zero monetary value in the portal; the employer then settles the agreed amount to the employee's Ultima Payments financial account.
Important: Although such sessions technically meet the description of free charging, the EUR 4 excluding VAT free-charging fee does not apply to a station or connector included in an active home-charging relationship. This is a specific exception for home reimbursement. Detailed setup, conditions and the employer and employee process will be covered in a separate article.
How the free-charging fee is calculated
The fee is assessed for each separate metered connector and for the full calendar month. It is independent of the twice-monthly tax documents for paid sessions.
If a connector had at least one free session with energy delivered, Smart Fuel Pass compares the sum of paid-session fees on that connector for the whole month (registered and roaming charging are not distinguished for this comparison) with the EUR 4 excl. VAT free-charging fee. Only the higher amount applies; the two fees are not added together.
If there was no free session with energy delivered on a connector, the EUR 4 fee does not apply, even if paid-session fees are below EUR 4.
Example: four connectors at one location
| Connector | Monthly situation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A free session delivered energy. Paid-session fees were EUR 5 excluding VAT. | The EUR 5 excluding VAT fee was already charged immediately for the paid sessions. No additional EUR 4 free-charging fee is added. |
| 2 | A free session delivered energy. Paid-session fees were EUR 3 excluding VAT. | The total connector fee is EUR 4 excluding VAT. The EUR 3 excluding VAT fee was already charged immediately for the paid sessions; the difference of EUR 1 excluding VAT is charged in a separate monthly tax document. |
| 3 | No free session delivered energy. Paid-session fees were EUR 3 excluding VAT. | The EUR 3 excluding VAT fee was already charged immediately for the paid sessions. The EUR 4 free-charging fee does not apply. |
| 4 | Only unregistered drivers charged via a payment terminal or web gateway, for example by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. | Tariff 2 applies. The station owner or operator's income is based on Tariff 1 and no separate 9% fee is deducted. |
Where to find details
The Smart Fuel Pass portal shows sessions, connectors, tariffs and settlement documents. For a question about a specific amount, send support the location name or identifier, connector, period, session ID and number or screenshot of the settlement document.
Note: Specific rates, prices and tax items are governed by the applicable contract, current price list and activated-service terms.
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