Ola Electric Gets Govt Notice Over Missing Trade Certificates: Report

In a fresh trouble for Ola Electric, the transport ministry has reportedly hauled up the EV maker over missing trade certificates.

An NDTV report said that the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a show cause notice to Ola Electric yesterday, asking it to disclose the strength of stores and service centres that are operational currently.

Besides, it also sought for the number of trade certificates obtained in the past three years, along with the date of issuance.

“You are hereby directed to furnish response to the aforementioned queries within seven days from the date of receipt of this letter, in order to avoid any adverse action,” the report said, citing the notice.

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

The report highlighted that the ministry is keen to learn if the EV unicorn has unregistered vehicles stocked at its centres. Also, Ola Electric must provide model and variant-wise details of the 7,820 electric scooters that it recently claimed to have delivered in February.

As of 03:24 PM, shares of Ola Electric were down over 5% at INR 49.73 apiece on the BSE afternoon trade, compared to its previous close of INR 52.42 per share.

Maharashtra Compliance Violations

Ola Electric has been under regulatory scrutiny for quite sometime now on grounds of allegedly operating stores lacking trade certificates. Maharashtra RTO officials reportedly conducted a state-wide inspection of Ola showrooms in March and seized dozens of vehicles due to compliance violations.

Earlier this week, a media report surfaced that Maharashtra authorities are moving to shut down over a 100 of Ola Electric’s unlicensed showrooms across the state. 

Issuing a clarification on that, the company said in an exchange filing today that it has not received any official notice regarding the closure of its showrooms in Maharashtra.

“We wish to submit that we are not aware of any such negotiations or events regarding a notice from the authorities ordering immediate closure of over a 100 showrooms in Maharashtra. Additionally, we have already informed the exchange, via our intimation dated March 21, regarding the receipt of notices in four states pertaining to trade certificates for certain stores located in those states,” the filing said.

The EV maker also mentioned that it is fully committed to compliance and will continue to promptly disclose any material information to the exchanges in accordance with regulatory requirements.

Ola Electric’s February Sales Data

Ola Electric’s February sales data grabbed the spotlight recently after a media report claimed that the data mentioned inclusion of bookings without deliveries. To which, the company denied the report as “misinformation”.

The EV unicorn said that the February 2025 sales announcements were based on paid and confirmed orders, not “preliminary bookings”.