Over 10k complaints filed against Ola Electric; CCPA sends notice

Consumer rights regulator CCPA has slapped a notice on electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ola, as it initiates a class action after over 10,000 complaints related to quality and after-sales service remained unaddressed, according to sources.

The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has been getting complaints against Ola Electric for the last one year, which were escalated to higher levels at the company for redressal "but there was little interest shown in redressing these complaints", said a source.

Subsequently, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) "started examining these complaints for class action and found that over the last one year, NCH received over 10,000 complaints", the source added.

According to the source, the major categories of consumer complaints include charging during the free service period/warranty, delayed and unsatisfactory services, refusal or delay in warranty services, inadequate services, recurrent defects despite services, inconsistent performance with advertised claims, overcharging and inaccurate invoices.

Also, failure to provide refunds and documentation, unprofessional conduct and complaint closure and multiple issues with battery and vehicle components were highlighted by the aggrieved consumers, a source said.

As per the CCPA, the major grounds for issuing show cause notice are alleged violation of consumer rights, deficiencies in services, misleading claims, and unfair trade practices.

On October 7, the CCPA issued the show cause notice against Ola Electric and gave 15 days for the company to respond.

Before issuing the notice, the CCPA headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra examined those consumer complaints for class action.

On October 7, Ola Electric informed stock exchanges that the company received the show cause notice from the CCPA. The authority has provided a timeline of 15 days for the company to respond to the show cause notice, the filing had said.

The company said it would respond to the authority within the given timeframe with the supporting documents.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has revamped the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), which has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country for grievance redressal at the pre-litigation stage.

It is available to all consumers of the country wherein consumers can register their grievances from all over the country in 17 languages through a toll-free number 1915.

These grievances can be registered on the Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omnichannel IT-enabled central portal, through various channels- Whats App, SMS, mail, NCH app, web portal, and Umang app as per their convenience.

Ola Electric sells three models of electric scooters at the moment, and in August this year announced its foray into the electric motorcycle segment.

Earlier this week, a war of words broke out between Ola founder Bhavish Agarwal and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on social media platform X over the after-sales and service quality of the company's electric scooters.

Kamra had taken up after-sales and service issues faced by Ola Electric customers.