Approval of the TI Birdy means also to take some responsibility if the design has some problems.

It seems to me difficult for R&M to take any responsibility of a design they didn't participate to at all.

What they could do is approve it from a marketing point of view.

There is also the eBirdy that is a Pacific Cycles design. This one use the Zehus integrated motor wheel that has some conceptual issues. I doubt that R&M who is focusing on high end eBikes would approve the choice of the Zehus system.