Consumer complaints surge: Ola Electric gets show-cause notice

New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority on Monday asked, serving a show-cause notice, the electric scooter manufacturer Ola Electric to respond to allegations of consumer right violations in 15 days, Scroll reported.

The authority, which enforces consumer rights in the country, was responding to huge number of complaints from consumers against the company.

It is reported that between September 1, 2023, and August 30, 2024 as many as 9,948 complaints against the company were received on the National Consumer Helpline, according to Mint.

The company has to respond to allegations of unfair trade practices, consumer rights violations, misleading adverts.

The chief financial officer of Ola Electric, Harish Abichandani, said in the filing that the company would respond to the authority in the given period.

The Bengaluru-headquartered firm saw its share prices falling more than 8 percent on Monday after its founder and Chief Executive Officer Bhavish Aggarwal engaged in an online spat with comedian Kunal Kamra.

It all began after Kamra in a post on Sunday showcased Ola scooters gathering dust outside the company facility, alleging poor service, asking ‘Do Indian consumers have a voice?’

Meanwhile, Mint reported on September 18 that the customer complaints Ola Electric received peaked to more than 80,000 every month.

Asking Ola Electric customers to share their experiences with the company, Kamra tagged Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari drawing wider attention.

Responding to the comedian, Aggarwal alleged that Kamra posted a “paid Tweet” adding that ‘I’ll even pay more than you earned for this paid tweet or from your failed comedy career’.

Aggarwal added that the company would take care of the pending service issues, alongside claiming that the company was expanding its service network.

Even as the exchange went on, thousands of Ola Electric customers poured in their complaints on delay in service and poor after-sale support.