The Bengaluru-based company was receiving nearly 80,000 complaints a month, and its service centers were struggling to keep up, according to two people familiar with the matter. On some days, the number of complaints would surge to 6,000-7,000 a day, leading to long delays, overwhelmed service staff and frustrated customers, they said.
According to the above-mentioned people, the manufacturer of the S1 series electric scooters has formed a new team, recruiting employees from product and operations departments, etc., to focus more on its service operations.
Mint A response to a query sent to Ola Electric via email on Monday has not been received yet.
Ola Electric’s service delays coincide with falling sales. In August, the company posted its worst monthly sales so far this year, selling 27,506 units, down 34% from July, and its market share fell to 31% from 39%. Rivals Bajaj Auto Ltd and TVS Motor Company Ltd have remained stable in the electric two-wheeler market.
Ola Electric has sold more than 680,000 electric scooters since its inception and operates 430 service stations across India, according to the company’s website.
Service issues at the center
Ola Electric has at least 10 customers Mint Respondents interviewed said that despite subscribing to Ola Care Plus, a paid service plan that allows users to book door-to-door pickup and delivery services, they still face great difficulties in booking service slots. The waiting time for repairs is as long as 30-45 days. Many people took to social media to express their dissatisfaction, especially X.
“My scooter was lying with the service centre for two to three months. I sent them countless emails, made countless calls and sent countless messages. The sensor on the stand was broken and it took me three months to get it fixed,” Akhilesh Dabharde, 34, of Nagpur, told Mint“Little problems kept popping up that I couldn’t solve. The battery died once, the range dropped, and the rear wheel got stuck. Every month or two, there was a new problem.”
Dabharde said Ola Electric’s service centre in Nagpur is packed with scooters, with as many as 1,000 scooters waiting to be repaired. “The product is not as robust as a petrol scooter.”
Neeraj Gupta’s motorcycle has been lying idle at his home in Pitampura, New Delhi, for a month and a half. “It won’t start. The handle lock won’t open and I can neither drive it nor tow it. Whenever I complain, no one comes. I always have to post on Twitter to get a response,” he said.
He even filed a complaint with the National Consumer Forum, but the issue remained unresolved. He said Ola had filed a complaint in August but it was not resolved.
Gupta said the staff at the Ola service centre in Okara, Delhi, refused to accept his motorcycle as it was “full capacity” and no further repairs could be done.
Customer Tipping Point
Frustrated after struggling with service issues for six months, Nisha C. Shekhaar, a lecturer from Hos Kote in rural Bengaluru, posted a photo of her bike on X (formerly Twitter) with a sign that read, “Never buy an Ola scooter.” The post went viral.
Shekhar filed a complaint with the Bengaluru Rural Consumer Forum in August and her case was taken up on September 5. She said it was only after receiving notice from the court that Ola finally took action.
“Quality is the real issue,” Shekhar said. “I’ve replaced the screen twice and now I’m going for a third time. I’ve lost my peace of mind. I don’t trust this scooter anymore and I’m asking for a refund.”
Despite Ola’s efforts to improve its service responsiveness, the company has yet to fully address widespread customer dissatisfaction.
Earlier this month, a disgruntled Ola Electric customer torched a company dealership in Karnataka, citing his dissatisfaction with Ola Electric’s service response to the issues he was facing with his scooter.
Insufficient staff and insufficient production capacity
Locals call the overcrowded Ola Electric service center on New Delhi’s Najafgarh Road the “graveyard of motorcycles.” Nearly 500-600 broken-down two-wheelers fill the basement and ground floor of the Moti Nagar center, which previously housed a Ford showroom. Inside the center, a team of four technicians are struggling to complete repairs that would require 10 employees, said an employee who did not want to be named.
The center’s authorized repair plaque had been removed, leaving customers wondering when or if their vehicles would be repaired. The situation worsened after the company closed a nearby repair center, with some customers even calling police after waiting more than six weeks for repairs, the employee said.
Analysts have mixed views
Last week, brokerage HSBC listed Ola Electric’s recent market share losses as a “risk” for the company and cut its sales forecast for 2025-26 by 15-20%. However, on Tuesday, the company’s shares surged 10% to a new high after Bank of America and Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on the stock. The two brokerages expect the company’s shares to rise 35-50%, betting on the company’s market leadership and vertical integration efforts.
Ola is the largest electric two-wheeler company in India with a market share of about 40%, and India’s electric two-wheeler penetration rate is about 6.5%, Bank of America said in a 17 September report, marking an “important inflection point in the EV curve” as electric scooters are now priced lower than petrol scooters. “While Ola is a new entrant, we believe Ola has solved the key pieces of the EV puzzle – a proven and expanding product portfolio (not just a concept), reasonable access to financing, brand and distribution reach, R&D/technology focus, and a large addressable market,” it said.
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