Ola Electric users continue to cry amid poor service, software glitches nationwide (IANS Special)

New Delhi/Bhopal/Bengaluru, Nov 18 As the government ordered a detailed probe into Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric over its consumer complaint redressal practices, there is no respite for several of its customers, who on Monday detailed their ordeal with its electric two-wheelers.

Despite the EV firm writing to the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) that 99.1 per cent of the 10,644 complaints against its service and other issues on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) were resolved, the plight of its customers is far from over.

Bhopal-based Vipin Sharma told IANS that he had bought an Ola S1 Pro e-scooter one and a half years ago.

"The scooter stops while running and frequently hangs, and needs to be restarted again and again. In the previous service, I got the vehicle repaired after one and a half months. Since the day I bought an Ola Electric e-scooter, I have had it serviced five times. There are already very few Ola service centres in Bhopal so you can understand my situation," Sharma lamented.

Ola Electric customers in Varanasi were very upset at endless visits to its service centre, facing trouble with its battery as well as software.

"It has not even been a year since I bought Ola Electric S1 Air but its battery has failed three times. There are several problems with its software. It crashes, due to which, the vehicle gets hanged. Since local mechanics cannot fix it, I have to take it to the service centre and once it is at the service centre, the e-scooter stands there for at least a week to a month’s time,” Vishal, a Varanasi-based lawyer, told IANS.

Badal Jaiswal from the holy city bought an Ola Electric scooter in May last year. "There are several problems with the software and the quality of service. One has to wait for months at the Ola Electric service centre for parts, and its parts are also expensive," he added.

Customers in Bengaluru are also a worried lot.

Sohan, who has been using an Ola Electric scooter for the past year, told IANS that there are durability as well as software issues with the vehicle.

"E-scooter stopping midway is a common issue as the screen gets blacked out during driving. It also causes trouble during rainy days. Build quality is poor which can also be improved," he told IANS.

Last week, the CCPA ordered a detailed probe into Ola Electric over consumer complaints. The consumer watchdog, led by Nidhi Khare, asked the Director General of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to probe the matter. The BIS chief has been asked to submit the report within 15 days.

The EV company was handed over a show-cause notice by the CCPA over alleged violations of consumer rights. If Ola Electric's claims fail to satisfy the regulator, it may face legal action and reportedly lose the subsidies its electric vehicles are eligible for under the PM Electric DRIVE Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme.

Ola Electric’s shares closed at Rs 68.93 apiece on Monday. The company reported a huge 43 per cent increase in net loss at Rs 495 crore in the July-September period (Q2 FY25), from Rs 347 crore in the previous quarter (Q1 FY25).

--IANS

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Source: IANS