Ola Group Chief Human Resources Officer Balachandar N Quits

SUMMARY

Balachandar “retired” from his position of chief human resources officer in November

Balachandar served as the senior vice president and chief people officer of Ola Electric from May 2021 to November 2024

He was promoted to the role of chief human resources officer at Ola Group in 2021 itself, and in his role, he oversaw hiring efforts across Ola Electric, Ola Consumer and Krutrim

Ola Group’s chief human resources officer, Balachandar N, has reportedly left the company after a stint of almost four years.

Balachandar’s LinkedIn profile showed that he is no longer part of Ola Group’s roster.

According to a YourStory report, Balachandar “retired” from his position of chief human resources officer in November.

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

Balachandar served as the senior vice president and chief people officer of Ola Electric from May 2021 to November 2024. He joined the company at a critical juncture when the Bhavish Aggarwal-led electric vehicle startup was set to roll out its first batch of two-wheeler EVs.

He was promoted to the position of chief human resources officer at Ola Group in 2021 itself, and in his role, he oversaw hiring efforts across Ola Electric, Ola Consumer and Krutrim.

Prior to joining Ola, Balachandar served as the group director of human resources at Coffee Day Group. He has also worked for companies such as ONDC, Asian Paints and Standard Chartered Bank.

Balanchandar is not the first C-suite executive to leave Ola Group this year. In September, Inc42 exclusively reported that Sidharth Shakdher was stepping down from his role of chief business officer at Ola Consumer, the ride-hailing arm of Ola Group.

Balachandar’s retirement from Ola Group comes at a critical juncture when Ola Consumer (formerly Ola Cabs) is gearing up for its initial public offering (IPO). Last month, ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, the parent of Ola Consumer, turned into a public limited company.

The development came on the heels of Ola Cabs rebranding itself as Ola Consumer in a bid to expand its consumer services offering and make ecommerce more accessible to customers.

If the IPO materialises, Ola Consumer will become the second company founded by Aggarwal to go public. In August this year, his electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ola Electric made its public debut on the stock exchanges.

At a time when Ola Consumer is going full steam ahead with its IPO plans, its sister company Ola Electric is mired in troubles — from consumer complaints related to subpar after sales services, government probe and declining market share in the two wheeler electric vehicle segment.