Ola electric scooters on display ahead of IPO press conference.
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India’s consumer rights agency has received an unusually high number of 10,000 complaints against Ola Electric over more than a year and has issued notices against the SoftBank-backed electric scooter, a senior official said on Tuesday. Manufacturer explains.
After a strong performance in the market in August, shares of India’s largest electric scooter maker have fallen around 40% in recent weeks as angry customers took to social media to complain about its after-sales service, leading to a drop in sales.
Ola has also been in the spotlight this week after a public spat between its founder and a comedian raised questions about its service and triggered a wave of complaints online.
Indian Consumer Affairs Minister Nidhi Khare said that between September 2023 and August 2024, the Indian government received more than 10,000 complaints about issues such as delayed and unsatisfactory services and inaccurate invoices. India’s Central Consumer Protection Authority has sent a so-called “show cause notice” to Ola.
Halley told Reuters that the number of complaints was too high, adding that the agency took the step because “you can’t leave it to individual consumers to fight for their own solutions.”
“Similar complaints have cropped up again and again, affecting a large number of consumers,” Harley added, noting that some of the complaints related to accusations of “unprofessional conduct” against the company.
Ola, which has a 27% market share in India’s e-scooter market, did not respond to a request for comment.
HSBC analysts said in a September report that they visited multiple Ola service centers and most “appeared to be inundated with service requests.”
Reuters visited 35 Ola centers in 10 Indian states last year and found that many faced severe backlogs, with demand outstripping labor. In one centre, more than 100 scooters were parked, many covered in bird droppings.
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