Ola Electric Ramps up Service Team in Response to Monthly Complaints Reaching 80,000

Nitin Konde, Apoorva Bajj

Sep 19, 2024 — 3 min read

Ola Electric Ramps up Service Team in Response to Monthly Complaints Reaching 80,000

While Ola Electric, a manufacturer of battery-powered scooters, is struggling to deal with an increasing number of service complaints from consumers, the company has decided to form a new support team.

As a result of the approximately 80,000 complaints that the Bengaluru-based company has been receiving each month, the company's service centers are having a difficult time keeping up with the volume of complaints. According to a media report, there are days when the number of clients reaches a peak of 6,000 to 7,000 per day, which results in lengthy delays, leaves service staff feeling stressed out, and makes customers frustrated.

In order to tighten its focus on its service operations, the manufacturer of the S1 line of electric scooters has assembled a new team, which includes employees from the product and operations divisions, amongst others.

Sales of Ola Scooter Deteriorating

The problem of service delays that Ola Electric is experiencing corresponds with a decrease in sales. It saw its lowest monthly sales of the year in August, selling 27,506 units, which is a 34% decrease from July's total. Additionally, its market share dropped from 39% to 31% during this month. In the market for electric two-wheelers, competitors Bajaj Auto Ltd. and TVS Motor Company Ltd. continue to maintain their levels of stability.

Based on the information provided on the company's website, Ola Electric has successfully sold more than 6.8 lakh electric scooters since its beginning. Additionally, the company has 430 service stations throughout the country.

Lack of Personnel and Resources

Numerous users have referred to the Ola electric service station as a "graveyard of scooters" due to the fact that the entire area is cluttered with about 500 to 600 scooters that have broken down. A group of four technicians is having trouble keeping up with repairs that require a crew of ten, according to a story that was published in the media.

As a result of the removal of the authorised service board from the centre, consumers are left wondering when or if their vehicles would be repaired. After the company closed a service centre in New Delhi, the situation became much more dire, and some customers from that area have even gone so far as to approach the authorities after waiting for repairs for more than six weeks.

Ola’s Market Report

Ola Electric's recent market share loss was identified as a "risk" for the company by the broking firm HSBC last week, and the company's sales volume predictions for FY25-26 were reduced by 15-20% following the announcement. The shares of the corporation, on the other hand, experienced a 10% increase and reached the upper circuit on September 17th, following the introduction of coverage on the stock by Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. By placing their bets on the company's market leadership and efforts to vertically integrate, the brokerages forecast an upside of between 35 and 50 percent.

In a research published on September 17, Bank of America stated that electric two-wheeler adoption in India is at "an important inflexion on EV curve" due to the fact that e-scooters are currently priced lower than petrol scooters. The report cited Ola as the largest electric two-wheeler company in India, which holds a share of approximately 40%. Bank feels that Ola has sorted out essential pieces of the electric vehicle puzzle, despite the fact that it is a new entrant. These critical pieces include a proven and expanding product range (not just a concept), decent financial availability, brand and distribution reach, research and development/technology focus, and a big addressable market, according to the report.