Ola Electric has been under the spotlight ever since it began its operations in India in 2017. While the company had initially disrupted the electric vehicle industry with its S1 range of electric scooters, it is now seeing a backlash from customers for the poor service quality. Recently, Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola Electric, also had a rift on X with the stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra.

Kamra took to the social media platform ‘X’ to draw attention towards the sad state of Ola Electric service centres to which Aggarwal bashed the comedian stating “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."

The two exchanged several further barbs at one another with Kamra urging Ola Electric to offer refund to disgruntled customers while Aggarwal insisting that his company is managing the situation well. But is it?

Ever since the launch of the S1 back in 2021, Ola Electric has been bashed for a number of reasons ranging from delayed deliveries and shoddy service quality to poor product itself.

Ola Electric rides the rough road

One of the first set of complaints against Ola Electric when it launched the S1 was that its all-digital direct-to-customer sales platform was ineffective in meeting with committed delivery timelines. A low booking amount of ₹500 may have helped the company rake in thousands of orders. But fulfilling these orders as per promised timelines was a whole different game. The result? The first barrage of complaints on social media.

Ola Electric did ramp up production at its facility in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri, also called FutureFactory but the start itself may have been on a challenging note.

Over the past three years, Ola Electric has played one game really well - the price game. Undercutting the competition in terms of pricing - S1X at present starts at ₹75,000 (ex-showroom), has been a crucial step in not just taking the lead among e-two-wheeler brands but even challenging companies manufacturing engine-powered options.

But while discounts may have worked to bring in newer customers, quality control has been a headache. Take the case of the infamous front suspension which had the tendency to brake. Ola Electric never admitted there was a problem despite complaints made by owners although it would eventually replace the front suspension of its S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters in March of 2023. Several users have also pointed at software glitches, panel gaps and battery-drain issue on prolonged non-use - all either denied by the company or simply not acknowledged.

For a company that averaged around 37,000 units in sales each month till July this year has seen its performance drop to 26,928 units in August and 23,965 units in September, as per data from Vahan. Part of the reason may be the Shradh period in September when new purchases are on the lower side. But important to note here is that rivals like Bajaj Auto and TVS have upped their sales of e-Chetak and iQube, respectively. Bajaj's performance, in particular, has been mighty impressive with sales doubling from 9,006 units in June to 18,933 in September.

Are customer complaints coming in to bite Ola Electric?

There are several factors at play in the electric two-wheeler space. Options have increased and price wars are intense. But for Ola Electric, a company that has seen its market share slide to 27 per cent, the barrage of customer complaints hardly auger well.

Analysts mostly agree that the brand image is taking a beating and the recent outburst of CEO Aggarwal against Kamra will create further dents. Ola Electric stock prices were down nine per cent at the time of filing this report and was trading at ₹89.95 per share. This is the lowest since the day of its listing on August 9 when it had jumped to ₹91.18 per share.

What is Ola Electric promising?

Aggarwal maintains that his company is expanding its service network fast and backlogs will be cleared soon. This, however, is not the first time that the CEO has committed to improving the service quality his company provides. Is there merit in his words this time around?

Part of the ‘redemption’ strategy is to offer quick-service guarantee from October 10 onwards in a phased manner. With this, the company has committed to one-day repairs. Interestingly, the company claims that for repairs that will take longer than one day, customers will be provided with a backup Ola S1 scooter till the repair is done. Additionally, Ola Care+ customers will get Ola Cabs coupons which will remain valid until their service request is resolved.

In addition to a guaranteed one day repair programme, the company also committed to expand its service network to 1,000 centres by December of 2024 from the current 570 service centres. Furthermore, Ola Electric claims it is committed to train over one lakh third-party mechanics under its new ‘Network Partner Program’ for electric vehicles.

Ola Electric has further stated to introduce a proactive maintenance and remote diagnostics programme using artificial intelligence (AI). According to the company, these AI-driven features will identify potential issues before they occur, allowing for doorstep service to address them. The rollout of these features is also scheduled for October 10.

On paper, these do indeed appear as solid steps to address customer concerns. It is, even more importantly, an acknowledgement of issues that have been flagged by customers at large. But whether these will indeed be effective and if these will allay concerns remains to be seen.

Read Also: Of torrid tweets and sliding stock: Ola Electric faces market wrath after service woes