A heated exchange recently unfolded on social media platform X between Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and comedian Kunal Kamra, after Kamra flagged concerns regarding the service centre situation for Ola's electric scooters. Kamra took to X, sharing an image of EV scooters lined up at an Ola service centre, questioning whether Indian consumers are being treated fairly. "Do Indian consumers have a voice? Two-wheelers are many daily wage workers' lifeline... Anyone who has an issue with Ola Electric, leave your story below," he wrote.
Aggarwal, visibly irritated by the post, accused Kamra of posting a "paid tweet" and suggested he help solve the issues instead of criticising. "Since you care so much, come and help us out! I’ll pay more than you earned for this tweet or your failed comedy career," Aggarwal responded.
Kamra shot back, denying the claim of being paid for his post and challenging Aggarwal to prove it, stating he would delete his social media if proven wrong. He further asked the CEO to issue refunds to customers dissatisfied with their Ola EV purchases in the past four months, adding that accountability was more important than money.
Aggarwal didn’t back down, reiterating his offer for Kamra to come to the service centre and help. The argument quickly turned ugly as Kamra eventually called Aggarwal arrogant, to which the latter replied with “Comedian ban na sake, chaudhary banne chale. Do your research better next time. And the offer to come and help us out in our service center remains open. Take up the challenge. Maybe you’ll learn some real skills for a change.”
Ola Electric: Declining market share
As the spat continues, it adds to the pressure Ola Electric has been facing. The company, which saw a peak in sales in July 2024 with 40,814 units sold, has witnessed a steady decline to 23,965 units in September. The shrinking market share, now around 27 percent, has prompted Ola to announce plans to expand its service network to 1,000 outlets by the end of the year to address customer concerns.
Whether the debate will simmer down or escalate further remains to be seen, but it certainly highlights growing frustrations around after-sales support for Ola's electric scooters.
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