Ola Electric CFO Harish Abichandani Resigns, Rastogi Takes Over Company Confirms

The chief financial officer (CFO) of Ola Electric, a manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), Harish Abichandani, has resigned. He resigned for "personal reasons". The listed electric two-wheeler (E2W) manufacturer also announced the appointment of former Puravankara (real estate developer) executive Deepak Rastogi as the new CFO in a filing with the Exchange.

Rastogi will take over as the new chief financial officer from today, according to the EV manufacturer. He has also been designated as one of the listed company's important managers. Rastogi is a certified chartered accountant and a graduate of the SP Jain Institute of Management & Research. In the past, he held a variety of positions with organisations such as Castrol, Tata AutoComp Systems, and Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals Corp.

Ola Electric Going Through a Tough Time

The EV manufacturer struggled with product delays, revenue declines, brand harm, and strategic zigzags in 2025. The company was further plagued by ongoing subpar after-sales services, a growing CCPA investigation, and significant losses. The business was also accused of stealing battery technology from LG and having a poisonous workplace culture that killed an employee.

For comparison, in the second quarter (Q2) of the fiscal year 2025–26 (FY26), Ola Electric's consolidated net loss decreased by 15% to INR 418 Cr from INR 495 Cr in the same quarter the previous year. However, during the reviewed quarter, operating revenue fell 43% year over year to INR 690 Cr. As heritage behemoths like TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto surged ahead, the OEM's market share in the E2W segment dropped from 36.7% the year before to 16.1% last year. The EV giant's stock price has also been declining. On December 18, the company's shares fell to an all-time low of INR 30.79.

Investors Losing Trust in Ola Electric

Between September 3, 2025, and January 5 of this year, SoftBank Group, a Japanese tech investor, sold a 2.15% share in the business. According to reports, Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Ventures sold some of their shares in the EV manufacturer throughout the last year. Further, Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India) apparently completely left the business in December 2025.

Interestingly, this is not the company's first significant top-level departure. The leader of the company's cell division, Vishal Chaturvedi, resigned in December 2025 for personal reasons. In December 2024, Anshul Khandelwal, the chief marketing officer, and Suvonil Chatterjee, the head product and technology officer, also left the EV manufacturer for personal reasons.