Ola Electric, Owned by Bhavish Aggarwal, Contracts EY for a Critical Service Overhaul

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Oct 17, 2024 — 3 min read

Ola Electric Contracts EY for Critical Service Overhaul

Leading player in the electric two-wheeler market, Ola Electric, managed by Bhavish Aggarwal, has engaged EY India to manage its "service transformation" in the face of growing customer complaints, falling sales, and worsening after-sales service issues. The decision was made in response to growing demand on the business to enhance customer service.

This multinational consulting business, EY, is anticipated to help the manufacturer of electric two-wheelers in a number of service-related capacities. According to sources cited by a media house, the focus will be on optimising inventory and spare part management as well as streamlining corporate operations.

An Interim Three-Month Task

A few weeks ago, Ola Electric hired about a dozen EY professionals for a three-month initiative. The report stated that the relationship might be extended based on the outcomes. Helping Ola enhance its procedures, inventory control, and local service availability is the aim, especially in regions with robust sales but inadequate service assistance. The most significant obstacle has been finding replacement components and service staff.

According to the report, Bhavish Aggarwal is in charge of the entire process, indicating how important it is to the business plan.

Ola's Reaction to Growing Criticism

With as many as 80,000 customer complaints each month going viral on social media and stories of Ola Electric vehicles collecting dust at repair locations, this calculated approach is a response to growing customer unhappiness. Both lawmakers and consumer watchdogs were drawn to the outcry.

Ola Electric was recently served with a show-cause notice by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), which included possible abuses of consumer rights, deceptive advertising, and unfair business practices. More than 10,000 outstanding after-sales service concerns were highlighted in the notification. Ola Electric has made plans to grow its network of service centres in response to these problems, with the goal of increasing the number from 400 to 1,000 by the end of the year. Industry experts caution that expanding the number of centres alone might not address the main problem. An analyst said, "Instead of growing, the company should concentrate on enhancing the quality of current service stations."

Ola's Internal Issues and Diminishing Sales

A spike in customer complaints about hardware flaws, software bugs, and after-sale service has been difficult for Ola Electric to handle. Sales and market share have decreased as a result in recent months. With three heads of service quitting in the last two months, the company's high turnover rate worsens these problems. Ola Electric has had a brief increase in sales this month despite these setbacks because of extensive discounting. Based on statistics retrieved from the Vahan portal, the business had registered over 15,672 vehicles as of October 14, increasing its market share to 34%.

Although this gives the manufacturer of electric vehicles some respite, analysts have cautioned that the surge is mostly due to the holiday season and substantial discounts, which may not be long-term viable. Furthermore, according to market analysts, this month's sales numbers are still below those of previous months this year.