Ola Electric Counted Unlaunched Models In February Sales: Report

Ola Electric is staring at strict regulatory action after the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company allegedly counted bookings of electric scooters and motorcycles that have not even been rolled out yet in its February sales to inflate its market share.

In a letter to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways dated March 21, Ola Electric said that its February sales figures included customer bookings for 10,866 Gen3 escooters and 1,395 Roadster X motorcycles, Bloomberg reported.

Ola has not even rolled out Roadster motorcycles yet, while it kicked off deliveries of Gen3 escooters last month. 

These two categories accounted for nearly half of 25,207 “confirmed orders” in February. Consequently, the ministry wrote to Ola on March 31, seeking clarification on its monthly sales, as per the report.

Ola Electric did not respond to Inc42 queries on the development till press time.

It must be noted that Ola claimed to have sold 25,000 vehicles in February, but only 8,600 vehicles were registered, as per data from the Vahan Portal. The company had previously described it as a “clear case of temporary backlog” caused due to negotiations with its vendors that are responsible for vehicle registrations.

In a statement released on April 1, Ola Electric said it had “nearly cleared” its February backlog and expected to clear the remaining backlog for the Feb-March period by the end of this month.

The ministry has reportedly asked Ola to revise the February 2025 sales data and include only those vehicles that were invoiced that month. It also warned the company of “adverse action” if it failed to respond within seven days of issuing the letter.

Although the Centre has not launched a formal probe into Ola over the matter yet, it may assess if the company ran afoul of any local laws or misreported its sales, as per the report.

Ola Neck Deep In Regulatory Trouble

This is the latest blow to Ola Electric, which is already facing regulatory scrutiny for allegedly operating stores lacking trade certificates. 

Amid discrepancies between the company’s reported sales figures and actual vehicle registrations in February, Maharashtra RTO officials reportedly conducted a state-wide inspection of Ola showrooms last month and seized dozens of vehicles due to compliance violations.

The crackdown is just not limited to Maharashtra. Ola Electric is said to have shut down all its showrooms in Punjab, seemingly to avoid government heat over trade certification violations. Meanwhile, some reports suggested that RTO officials in Madhya Pradesh sent notices to Ola for allegedly selling unregistered escooters without valid trade certificates.

The EV maker is also being probed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) over allegations of delays in providing service and deliveries, defective vehicle sales, and other customer complaints.

The Hype And Hubris Of Ola Electric

In its FY25 investor presentation released April 1, Ola Electric reiterated that it reduced its monthly cash burn by INR 90 Cr on the back of cost-cutting initiatives and expected to achieve EBITDA breakeven in the automotive segment in Q1 FY26.

To its credit, the company managed to retain its top spot in the electric two-wheeler segment in FY25 with 344K registrations and 30% market share despite cut-throat competition from the likes of Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor. 

However, it is important to note that Ola Electric’s market share has been on a steady decline since the second half of FY25. In fact, its share in the EV two-wheeler market shrank to 12% in February 2025 before improving somewhat to 18% in March 2025.

This adds to Ola’s existing troubles, the biggest of which probably being mounting losses. The electric mobility company saw its consolidated net loss balloon 50% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 564 Cr in Q3 FY25, while operating revenue declined 19% YoY to INR 1,045 Cr.

With Ola grappling with problems on multiple fronts, its shares have experienced a sharp decline. The stock tanked over 13% in early trading hours today to hit a record low of INR 45.55 apiece on the BSE. However, it recovered some losses to end the day 3.05% lower at INR 50.83.