Relief for Ola Electric customers? Company boosts service capacity by 30%; adds over 50 centres, 500 technicians

India’s largest e-scooter manufacturer, Ola Electric, has ramped up its service network by over 30%, adding more than 50 service centres and recruiting over 500 technicians to meet growing demand and streamline after-sales support, reported PTI quoting people familiar with the development.

This service expansion follows consumer complaints and backlogs at some Ola centres as demand outpaced available resources. To tackle these challenges, the Softbank Group-backed company, which commands over 30% of India’s e-scooter market, reportedly enlisted consulting giant Ernst & Young to help overhaul its service operations, improve efficiency, and optimise customer experience.

"The company has added over 50 centres to its service network and has onboarded more than 500 service technicians across new and existing centres across the country," PTI quoted a senior company executive as saying.

"The company has silently been gathering all forces to overcome its service backlog. The company has already cleared around two-thirds of the service backlog and should be able to clear the remaining in the next couple of weeks," said another senior official, according to PTI.

Ola Electric recently faced public scrutiny over service quality, fuelled by a public spat between founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra. Kamra shared on X an image of what he claimed were neglected Ola scooters outside a service centre.

Aggarwal responded to Kamra’s criticism by suggesting the tweet was paid and challenged the comedian to “come and help us out,” offering to pay “more than you earned for this paid tweet.”

Following the incident, Ola Electric’s shares dropped 9.4% to ₹89.7 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company's shares are trading below ₹80 as of October 30.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued a show-cause notice to Ola earlier in October, citing over 10,000 complaints logged with the National Consumer Helpline, mostly concerning after-sales service. Ola Electric responded by asserting that 99.1% of these complaints were resolved satisfactorily.

Meanwhile, HSBC Global Research maintained a ‘buy’ rating on Ola Electric, with a target price of ₹110 per share. The firm’s recent inspection of Ola’s service centres noted improved service levels and a reduction in backlogs, which reportedly decreased by 20-30% month-over-month.