CCPA Issues Investigation Report To Ola Electric; Hearing Scheduled For Nov 10

Over a year after sending a show cause notice (SCN) to Ola Electric, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has sent the EV major its investigation report in the matter pertaining to alleged violations of consumer rights, deficiency in service and misleading advertisement. 

The hearing for the matter has been fixed for November 10 and the company has been asked to submit its comments within seven days. Ola Electric is in the process of obtaining legal advice in this regard.

The CCPA initiated the investigation into Ola Electric in October amid rising consumer complaints over its scooters last year. In November, the authority launched a detailed investigation into numerous consumer complaints filed regarding the company’s false claims of complaint resolution. 

Ola Electric is being probed by the consumer protection body over allegations of delays in providing service and deliveries, defective vehicle sales, and other customer complaints.

CCPA has registered 10,644 complaints against Ola Electric on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) for the period Sept 2023 – August 2024. These complaints include service delays, delivery delays and unfulfilled promised services. In response, the company had said that it had “resolved ~99.1%” of the complaints in question.

In a separate legal development for Ola Electric today, the Karnataka High Court has reportedly allowed police to continue their investigation into the alleged suicide of Ola Electric employee by rejecting the company’s plea to quash the FIR registered against CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and a senior executive of the company

The FIR was registered on October 6 in connection with the incident which took place on September 28. The departed employee allegedly accused the company and its executives of mental harassment, excessive workload, and non-payment of salary and dues. 

The company had earlier stated that the deceased never raised any complaint or grievance regarding his employment. Besides, the company added that his role did not involve any direct interaction with the company’s top management, including Aggarwal.

Shares of Ola Electric ended today’s trading session 0.23% lower at INR 51.63 on the BSE.