[Update] Ola Electric Issues Clarification After IP Rights Transfer Report

Update | May 6, 1:55 PM

Shortly after media reports surfaced that Bhavish Aggarwal is planning to transfer the intellectual property rights for the Ola brand to a new holding company controlled by his family office, Ola Electric said that it holds a licence to use certain IPs, including the logo and word-mark of ‘Ola’. 

In a statement issued on the public bourses, Ola Electric said that ANI Technologies is in an agreement with it, facilitating the EV arm to use certain licensed IP, “including the logo and/or word-mark of Ola.”

“The company holds a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-assignable, and revocable license,” the statement added. 

However, the company did not comment on the rumored transfer of IP rights from ANI Technologies.

Original | May 5, 2:07 PM

Bhavish Aggarwal is reportedly planning to transfer the intellectual property (IP) rights for the Ola brand to a new holding company controlled by his family office.

The IP is currently held by ANI Technologies. 

An ET report, citing sources close to the matter, said that the proposed transfer has raised concerns among ANI investors, who fear losing out on the royalty income.

Inc42 has reached out to Ola for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response.

ANI Technologies operates the group’s ride-hailing business and the brand IPs. Notably, Ola’s electric vehicle arm Ola Electric licences the brand IPs from ANI Technologies for a fee.

The development comes at a time when Ola Maps was reportedly transferred from ANI to Krutrim AI with its assets valued at INR 40 Cr. 

The Ola group consists of ANI, Ola Electric and AI unicorn startup Krutrim. All the three entities have overlapping but separate shareholding bases. 

Notably, Ola Electric was initially established as a subsidiary of ANI Technologies. However, in 2017, the former was separated from the promoters group and was established as a separate entity.

Ola’s Rough Road 

The development comes at a time when Ola is facing several regulatory hurdles. For instance, transport authorities have raided several Ola Electric showrooms across Maharashtra, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh and seized dozens of vehicles due to alleged compliance violations in the past few months.

Besides, the company has also been alleged of wrongfully inflating its market share by counting bookings of electric scooters and motorcycles that have not even been rolled out yet in its February sales. However, the company claimed that the February sales numbers reflected genuine customer orders backed by full payments and not just bookings.

Ola Electric recently declined a report suggesting that SEBI is probing the electric mobility startup over allegations of insider trading.

There were also reports suggesting that Aggarwal is eyeing an investment of $300 Mn (around INR 2,561 Cr) in a mix of equity and debt for Krutrim. However, the company declined the claim.