‘OLA is IKEA for Scooters’: Kunal Kamra mocks Bhavish Aggarwal as company makes spare parts available online

Comedian Kunal Kamra has once again taken shots at Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal on social media after the latter announced that Ola Electric parts will now be openly available on the company's app and website for customers to buy genuine parts directly.

In his X post, Kamra addressed Aggarwal: “Are you asking people to buy your parts online and then go to any mechanic they can find… This solution is after years of pain/suffering customers have faced.” “No apology, not even a ‘Sorry for the inconvenience.’ They could have done this years ago…” he added, and ended his post with the statement, “This happens only in India.”

In another post, he said, “OLA is IKEA for Scooters…” referring to the DIY nature of Ikea's products, where customers have to buy the latter's products and assemble them at their homes.

Social media is divided as Kamra locks horns with Aggarwal once again. While several replies to Kamra's post slam Ola and Aggarwal, some replies to the Ola CEO's post laud the move.

One reply under Kamra's post said, “Oh, how thoughtful of Ola! After years of turning customers into unpaid beta testers, they’ve finally decided to let us buy parts online and play mechanic roulette! No apology? No “oops, sorry for the torture”? Just a casual “fix it yourself” gift wrapped in genius marketing! Truly, only in India can a company turn suffering into a flex. Bravo, Bhavish, bravo!”

Another contrasting reply can be seen under Aggarwal's post: “Opening proprietary infrastructure while competitors keep theirs locked? Bold. But makes sense - you can't scale EVs with walled gardens. First mover advantage on setting industry standards.”

What Bhavish Aggarwal said

Aggarwal, in a series of X posts, projects how potentially useful this new step will be. He claims that Ola Electric is now "opening our diagnostic tools, training modules & manuals to India’s garage ecosystem", adding that any mechanic can now be Ola-certified, upskill themselves on EV, and earn more.

“This will create thousands of skilled EV technicians across the country,” Aggarwal also claimed.

In the next post, he explains why this new step, which Ola is calling 'Hyperservice', will strengthen the company's unit economics.

“Wider parts access = higher volumes through our supply chain. Parts & accessories are a high-margin revenue stream that grows as our customer base scales,” he said.

Aggarwal also said that phase 1 of the sales is live today, and over this quarter the company plans to expand to more parts, diagnostic access, certified network partners, and 'platform for any mechanic.'

The Kunal Kamra-Bhavish Aggarwal fiasco

In October 2024, Kunal Kamra and Bhavish Aggarwal faced off in a social media war after the comedian reposted an X post that claimed Ola was hiring bouncers at its Ola Electric services centres.

Kamra had also shared a picture of what appeared to be Ola's e-scooters kept outside one of their dealerships, which triggered a strong response from Aggarwal. He asked Kamra to help him solve the issues or otherwise “shut up” and let Ola fix the “real customer issues”.

The issue then went back-and-forth between the two, with Kamra getting much of the public support.

It remains to be seen whether Aggarwal once again replies to Kamra and starts a new face-off.