An arrest warrant issued against Bhavish Aggarwal by a consumer court in Goa, later stayed by the Bombay High Court, has added to the turbulence engulfing Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. The episode is the latest in a series of setbacks for founder Aggarwal, who is battling service complaints, falling sales and a sharp reversal in investor sentiment.
Mint unpacks why the company continues to attract negative attention.
Why do service issues continue to persist for Ola Electric?
The problem for Ola Electric has been the high rate of breakdowns of its older vehicles. Since starting deliveries in 2021, Ola has launched three generations of scooters. Company data show significantly higher warranty costs for Gen 1 and Gen 2 compared with Gen 3.
The company started selling Gen 3 scooters only in 2025, meaning a vast majority of the more than a million scooters it has sold in the last few years are earlier generations, for which high servicing issues have been flagged. Sales of older models were stopped only in September.
Service complaints have surfaced repeatedly over the last few years, including public criticism from comedian Kunal Kamra, but Aggarwal claimed that its scooters are one of the best on offer. However, in an earnings call on 13 February, Aggarwal accepted that service problems weighed on the brand
Ola Electric's sales stood at nearly 200,000 units in 2025, falling by more than half in a year. Meanwhile, its share price has dropped 50% in the last one year, owing to investor concern.
What’s the battery edge it is banking on?
While the company is trying to fix its service problems through same-day servicing and better planning, a large part of its best depends on the scale-up of its lithium-ion battery business. The company has built a gigafactory to produce lithium-ion cells, which go into EVs and battery storage systems.
There are two-fold gains the company is chasing. One is the cost-benefit for its scooters, as it will not have to rely on imports. Lithium-ion batteries make up more than one-third of a vehicle’s price. Second is its battery storage business, which sells home inverters.
Aggarwal estimates a ₹1,000 crore revenue opportunity for the home storage business in the next financial year, as Ola’s battery performance is expected to outpace the industry. By the end of March 2026, the company targets 6GWh of capacity to make lithium-ion cells.
Why do Ola and Aggarwal matter?
With more than one million scooters running on the road, the fate of Ola Electric matters for consumers and investors. The company was once the largest electric two-wheeler seller, commanding over 50% market share before the 2025 slump.
Aggarwal is also the only startup founder who raised money for three different ventures, Ola Cabs, Ola Electric and Krutrim, all three achieving unicorn status.
Is there hope for Ola's turnaround?
It depends on multiple factors, including whether the new generation of vehicles will perform better in the long run. Moreover, the company has not yet provided a commentary on how the reception of its new business Ola Shakti has been and whether it has a ₹1,000 crore market in the short term.
If the battery business scales up and the servicing of vehicles improves meaningfully, the company can expect some relief in the domestic market.
But competition has intensified. Rivals such as TVS Motor Company, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and AtherEnergy have scaled up meaningfully over the last few years as Ola stumbled.
With Aggarwal accepting that there has been a hit to the brand image owing to service issues, the road to recovery seems difficult.
How are analysts and investors reacting?
The Ola Electric stock listed at around ₹76 per share in August 2024 and surged to ₹150 within weeks. But since then, it has been falling. Currently, it is trading around ₹27.60 per share on the NSE.
The company's revenue plunged 57% on-year to ₹504 crore in the December quarter amid dwindling sales, while its losses narrowed slightly to ₹487 crore from ₹564 crore.
Two analysts had a ‘buy’ call on the stock when it listed in August 2024, against no ‘sell’ recommendation, according to Bloomberg data. By January 2025, the ratio had moved to five buys and two sells. However, as of 17 February 2026, the balance reversed with six ‘sell’ ratings and one ‘buy’.