Ola Electric’s stock price tumbled today following a heated exchange on social media between the company’s CEO, Bhavish Agarwal, and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra. The shares of Ola Electric Mobility Limited were trading at ₹90.25 down by ₹8.80 or 8.88 per cent on the NSE today at 11.11 am
The dispute, which centred around customer service issues with Ola’s electric scooters, played out publicly on the platform X (formerly Twitter) over the weekend.
The controversy began when Kamra posted an image of multiple Ola electric scooters apparently awaiting service, questioning the company’s after-sales support. He wrote, “Do indian consumers have a voice? Do they deserve this? Two wheelers are many daily wage workers lifeline…” Kamra tagged India’s Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, asking, “is this how Indians will get to using EV’s?”
Agarwal responded by challenging Kamra: “Since you care so much @kunalkamra88, come and help us out! I’ll even pay more than you earned for this paid tweet or from your failed comedy career. Or else sit quiet and let us focus on fixing the issues for the real customers.” He added, “We’re expanding service network fast and backlogs will be cleared soon.”
This led to further exchanges, with Kamra calling Agarwal “arrogant and substandard” and challenging him to offer full refunds to recent customers. Agarwal retorted, “Chot lagi? Dard hua? Aaja service center. Bahut kaam hai. I will pay better than your flop shows pay you.”
The CEO later defended Ola’s service programs, tweeting: “We have enough programs for our customers if they face service delays. If you were a genuine one, you would have known. Again, don’t try and back out of this. Come and do some real work rather than armchair criticism.”
However, the public spat drew attention from Ola Electric customers, many of whom chimed in with their own service complaints.
A user commented “A so-called “failed comedian” plays you and you end up quacking like a joker duck since morning. This only shows how passionate you are about your work & providing quality service to customers. This replies post of yours is going to boomerang your business like anything.”
Investors reacted negatively to the dispute, with Ola’s share price dropping significantly in today’s trading session. Market analysts suggest the incident has raised concerns about Ola Electric’s customer service capabilities and the company’s ability to handle public relations effectively.
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The electric vehicle market in India is highly competitive, with customer service and after-sales support being crucial factors for success. This incident has highlighted potential weaknesses in Ola’s service network, which Agarwal acknowledged is still expanding.
As the electric vehicle sector continues to grow in India, industry watchers will be keen to see how Ola Electric addresses these service issues and manages its public image going forward. The company’s ability to recover from this setback may have significant implications for its market position and investor confidence in the coming weeks.
