A war of words broke out between Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on Sunday on social media platform X over the after sales and service quality of the company's electric scooters.
Amid the online spat, Ola Electric Mobility's shares saw a significant decline on Monday. The Centre has also reportedly issued notice to the company following several customer service complains and allegations of breaching provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.
War Of Words Between OLA Founder Bhavish Aggarwal And Comedian Kunal Kamra
The post that sparked the conversation was captioned as "Do Indian consumers have a voice? Do they deserve this? Two wheelers are many daily wage workers lifeline ...," by Kamra along with a photo of Ola's gigafactory which had several Ola Electric scooters parked together seemingly waiting for servicing.
He also tagged Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari, asking: "Is this how Indians will get to using EV's?" and the official handle of Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India @jagograhakjago, seeking an answer saying "any word?" Kamra further wrote, "Anyone who has an issue with OLA electric leave your story below tagging all...".
To this Aggarwal responded, "Since you care so much @kunalkamra88, come and help us out! I'll even pay more than you earned for this paid tweet or from your failed comedy career. Or else sit quiet and let us focus on fixing the issues for the real customers."
He further said, "We're expanding service network fast and backlogs will be cleared soon."
To the "failed comedy career" remark by Aggarwal, Kamra responded by posting a video clip of one of his shows with audience clapping and cheering and called the Ola Electric founder and CMD "arrogant and substandard".
In response, Aggarwal said,"Chot lagi? Dard hua? Aaja service center. Bahut kaam Hai. (Did it hurt. It's very less. Come to service center). I will pay better than your flop shows pay you."
Kamra then challenged Aggarwal to "give a total refund to anyone who wants to return their OLA EV & who's purchased it in the last four months", saying he doesn't need his money but "people not being able to get to their workplace need your accountability".
"Show your customers that you truly care," Kamra asserted.
Aggarwal hit back saying,"We have enough programs for our customers if they face service delays. If you were a genuine one, you would have known. Again, don't try and back out of this. Come and do some real work rather than armchair criticism."
Ola Shares Go Down
Ola Electric customers expressed their frustrations over the company's service quality on social media, urging CEO Bhavish Aggarwal to address their concerns.
There was also a significant decline in Ola Electric Mobility's shares, which fell by 10 per cent before settling lower by 8 per cent on Monday. The drop in share price was linked to ongoing complaints about the performance of its electric scooters and Aggarwal's controversial spat with Kamra on social media.
On the BSE, Ola Electric shares tumbled 8.31 per cent to settle at Rs 90.82 apiece, marking the third straight day of losses. The stock plunged 9.43 per cent to a low of Rs 89.71 on BSE.
Ola Electric Mobility slumped 8.38 per cent to close at Rs 90.75 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock tanked 9.59 per cent to hit a low of Rs 89.55 on the NSE.
In the volume trade, 1.15 crore equity shares were traded on the BSE and 9 crore shares changed hands on the NSE during the day.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 638.45 points or 0.78 per cent to settle at 81,050, while NSE Nifty slumped 218.85 points or 0.87 per cent to end at 24,795.75.
Centre Issues Notice To Ola
According to India Today report, the Centre has stepped in to address numerous customer complaints about Ola Electric's service quality as the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued a show-cause notice to the company on October 3.
Reportedly, the notice was issued following thousands of complaints indicating potential violations of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The notice raises concerns about service deficiencies, misleading advertisements, unfair trade practices, and consumer rights infringements.
Ola Electric has been given 15 days to respond to the allegations.
Complaints from customers include manufacturing defects in the scooters, sales of second-hand vehicles as new, lack of refunds for canceled bookings, recurring issues post-servicing, billing discrepancies, and frequent battery problems.
Additionally, customers reported unprofessional conduct and unresolved service issues.
The CCPA's notice highlights that Ola Electric may have breached various provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.
(With PTI inputs)
