Shares of Ola Electric fell over 9% to Rs 89.71 on Oct 7, amid rising consumer complaints about the company’s sub-par e-scooter aftersales support Disgruntled consumers expressed their displeasure on social media and they expressed concerns about Ola’s electricity management vehicles.
After a public spat between comedian Kunal Kamara and Ola CEO Bhavish Agarwal on X (formerly known as Twitter), attention to the company’s service concerns increased with more Ola e-scooters parked a picture of the back of the sales area, apparently awaiting repairs, by Kamara. He expressed his anger and questioned whether Indian consumers, who largely rely on two-wheelers as their primary means of transportation, are entitled to such care.
Do consumers have a say in India? For many people working daily wage jobs, bikes are lifelines. Kamara questioned the future of electric car adoption in India in a statement in which he tagged Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
When Agarwal accused Kamra of being paid to attack Ola after its “failed comedy project”, Agarwal responded by assuring him that Ola was rapidly expanding its service plan and clearing the backlog recently, and retaliated by Kamra describing Agarwal as “arrogant and stupid”, leading to a very nasty exchange of words. Agarwal invited Kamar to the service center at Caustic North and offered to pay more than his “flop show”.
As the verbal competition continued, thousands of others flooded the post’s comments with criticism of Ola’s customer service and accusations that the company was neglecting them. Suppose the average person who saves up for months to buy an Ola, only to have problems the first week and then several days later at the service center. One user said that is the uncomfortable reality that many customers have to face.
Ola Electric is facing new competition in the electric two-wheeler segment, which poses a challenge this time for its dominance. In September, the company’s e-scooter registrations fell 11% month-on-month (MoM), with 23,965 units sold, the lowest since October 2022. Ola’s market share also fell, rising from 30% in August to 27% . currently
Ola Electric recently launched a “HyperService” initiative, promising same-day service issue solutions, in a bid to address these growing concerns but the company is still receiving criticism from the public there are some issues growing. Last month, for example, a customer from Karnataka set fire to an Ola showroom because he was unhappy with the service of the scooter he had just bought
The challenges intensified when Pramendra Tomar, corporate secretary and head of compliance of Ola Electric, resigned on October 1 citing personal reasons.
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