CCPA Expands Investigation into Ola Electric and Requests More Details

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Dec 6, 2024 — 2 min read

Ola Electric Faces Expanded Probe by CCPA

The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company has been asked to provide more information by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), which is looking into consumer complaints against Ola Electric. Ola Electric stated in an exchange filing that the consumer protection agency had asked the business for more information and documents. Ola Electric received a show-cause notice from the CCPA in October of this year due to claims of poor customer service, misbehaviour, delayed service and delivery, defective car sales, and numerous other consumer complaints. Ola Electric has confirmed that it will comply with the agency's 15-day deadline for submitting its response.

Ola Electric Claimed of Resolving 99.1% Cases

On October 21, Ola Electric responded to the notification by stating that 99.1% of the complaints it had received had been handled. But according to a report last month, the Authority discovered that 80% of the purported resolutions were never put into practice. It is important to note that for a significant portion of this year, complaints on social media regarding the functionality of Ola Electric scooters have kept mounting.

Customers complained about unresolved hardware and software problems, poor service, and concerns with the company's staff on social media platform X. Ola Electric promised to provide a one-day repair guarantee and a backup scooter if the problems are not fixed within a day in order to address this problem earlier this year. The business announced earlier this week that it intends to double its network of corporate-owned stores to 4,000 by December 20 as part of this strategy. According to the company, Ola Electric will run India's largest EV distribution network, spanning every pin code in the nation, with more than 3,200 new stores scheduled to open.

Gig and S1 Z Range by Ola Electric

Given that India's gig economy is expected to treble in size and employ over 10 million people in the next years, Ola Electric unveiled a new line of reasonably priced e-scooters last month, with pricing starting at less than INR 40,000. Ola Electric's stock rose 5.67% and closed the day at INR 73.47 on the BSE, reflecting the positive market reaction.

The new range includes the Ola Gig, which costs INR 39,999 and is designed for gig workers who travel shorter distances. The S1 Z series offers an affordable alternative to the original S1 model, with a starting price of INR 59,999. However, going by current allegations and investigations, Ola Electric needs to battle really hard to attract customers towards these launch products. But in the midst of all of this, Ola Electric's stock has recently surged on the exchanges. The stock has rebounded in recent weeks after plunging to all-time lows in November. On the BSE, shares of Ola Electric closed the trading session on 5 December 2024 up 0.11% at INR 98.50.