Amid CEO's Online Spat And Angry Customers, Ola EV Shares Slip 9%

CEO Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola Electric is not having a good time. Amid a heated argument over social media platform X and angry customers raising complaints, shares of Ola Electric saw its stocks crash to nearly Rs 90 a piece in the morning trade on Monday.

The two-wheeler EV maker’s shares fell nearly 9 percent, continuing its downward spiral of losing market value. The stock is currently loss-making and trading at high valuations, according to trade analysts. The recent low marks a 43 percent decline since listing.

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Since yesterday, CEO Aggarwal has been engaged in a public spat with comedian Kunal Kamra after the latter questioned the company’s service quality. Accusing Kamra of posting a “paid tweet,” Aggarwal attacked the standup comedian and said, “Since you care so much 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. We’re expanding the service network fast and backlogs will be cleared soon.”

Kamra then challenged Aggarwal that if he could prove Kamra’s tweet was “paid,” he’d delete all his social media. Aggarwal responded, quite aggressively, that he will pay Kamra better than his “flop shows” and invited him to work at the service centre.

Replying to the same, Kamra jokingly asked the Ola CEO to instead give a total refund to its disappointed customers who wish to return their Ola EV. He further highlighted that people need accountability from the Ola CEO.

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Meanwhile, other customers joined in and raised their complaints against the poor service quality of the Indian two-wheeler service. The company has been receiving over 80,000 complaints per month, as per a Mint report published in September. Around the same time, A disgruntled Ola Electric customer allegedly set fire to a showroom in North Karnataka’s Kalaburagi after his scooter was not repaired.

Since September, the company has witnessed a slip of over 20 percent after making a strong debut in the market. Ola reported the lowest monthly sales this year as its dominance dwindled and stiff competition from smaller players and servicing challenges.