A lot has been happening in the world of Ola. Recently, founder Bhavish Aggarwal became embroiled in a heated argument with comedian Kunal Kamra.
Highlighting that the customer service of Ola is not good, Kamra suggested that customers who purchased EVs in the last four months should receive a 100 per cent refund
A lot has been happening in the world of Ola. Recently, founder Bhavish Aggarwal became embroiled in a heated argument with comedian Kunal Kamra.
The verbatim that started between the two on October 6 also saw a wider audience. Since then, the hashtag #OlaElectric is trending on social media platforms X and Google Trends. This is coming at a time when Zomato CEO Deepender Goyal recently delivered food items in Gurgaon to understand the plight of delivery partners. Read: Kunal Kamra Vs. Bhavish Aggarwal: Ola's EV Service Issues Spark Fiery Exchange on X
Several social media users have made comparisons of it and said that Goyal’s behavior shows more empathy towards customers. “There is clear differentiation of empathy towards customers. Hope sanity prevails over arrogance #OlaElectric #OlaDrama #Zomato,” wrote a user on X.
The issue started on October 6 when comedian Kunal Kumra took to X and posted an image of several Ola EVs gathering dust. He wrote on X, “Do Indian consumers have a voice? Do they deserve this? Two wheelers are many daily wage workers lifeline. The comedian also tagged Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India Nitin Gadkari on the post. Since then, the war of words has never ended. Read: Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal Announces Break from Microsoft Azure, Fights LinkedIn's Pronoun Policies
Kamra also shared posts where customers complained about the service center of Ola, and he mentioned that "Ola, an Indian company, is treating Indian customers similarly to how fly-by-night Chinese companies exploit the entire continent of Africa.”
Post this, Aggarwal asked Kamra to come and help them out if he cares so much. Aggarwal said that he would pay Kamra more than his failed comedy debut. “Or else sit quiet and let us focus on fixing the issues for the real customers. We’re expanding the service network fast, and backlogs will be cleared soon,” Aggarwal added. Kamra has vehemently opposed the allegation that this tweet is paid and insisted that he would delete his social media handles if someone could prove that the tweet was paid.
The war of words soon shifted to name-calling, with Kamra calling Aggarwal “arrogant, substandard, prick." While Aggarwal said that he will pay Kamra better than his flop shows if he comes to the service center.
Highlighting that the customer service of Ola is not good, Kamra has suggested that customers be given a 100 percent refund for the EVs that were bought in the last four months. While Aggarwal said in a post, “Do your research better next time. And the offer to come and help us out in our service center remains open. Take up the challenge. Maybe you’ll learn some real skills for a change.”
A Mint article published on September 18 highlights that the company receives around 80,000 complaints every month. As a result, the company decided to assemble a new service team as well. Meanwhile, the number of complaints also escalates to around 6,000–7,000 a day.