Ola Electric: Ola Electric gets show cause notice for consumer rights violations

Electric two-wheeler maker Ola Electric has been served a show cause notice by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for alleged violation of consumer rights, misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices.

In an exchange filing on Monday, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company said the CCPA notice has no impact on its financial, operational or other activities, nor does it impose any penalties or fines.

The company has been given 15 days to respond to the notice.

On Tuesday, Ola Electric’s shares were trading at Rs 92.01 on the BSE at 1 pm, up by more than 1% from the previous day’s close of Rs 90.82.

The Bengaluru-based company has seen an increase in customer complaints regarding after-sales service, software glitches and hardware issues with its scooters. On Monday, the company’s market capitalisation had dipped below $5 billion for the first time since its listing on the bourses.

Over the weekend, Ola Electric’s founder and chief executive Aggarwal had reacted sharply to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra comment on microblogging platform X regarding service issues with Ola’s e-scooters.

Last month, the company’s market share in the domestic electric two-wheeler segment dropped to 27.9%, according to data from government portal Vahan. The market shares of Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor and Ather Energy stood at 21.4%, 20.2%, and 14.8%, respectively.

To address its after-sales challenges, Aggarwal had earlier announced that the company will double its service centres to 1,000 by December, as part of its ‘Hyperservice’ campaign.

In the June quarter, Ola Electric’s consolidated net loss widened to Rs 347 crore from Rs 267 crore a year ago. However, the company saw a 32.3% increase in operating revenue, reaching Rs 1,644 crore, up from Rs 1,243 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.