Maharashtra RTO Might Shut 104 Ola Electric Stores In The State

Ola Electric’s woes continue into the next financial year as well. The company faced quite the slack earlier this year, when its showrooms across India were being raided over lack of proper trade certificates. Now, the Government of Maharashtra has ordered the state’s RTO officials to shut down the the EV company's stores within its jurisdiction. This means Ola Electric stores in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, and many more will be shut down.

A report sourced by NDTV Profit claims that the Maharashtra Government has already inspected 131 stores in the state. Out of these, 104 were operating without a trade certificate, and 43 have been shut down so far. However, Ola Electric has denied these reports and claimed to the same publication that its findings are “misplaced” and “incorrect.” 

The sudden spur of Ola Electric showrooms came as a jubilant declaration on Christmas, last year, when its founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal proudly claimed that its public EV company had launched 4,000 stores and service centres across the country. 

Things didn’t go down so well with the brand’s sales, though. Despite these far-reaching steps, Ola Electric kept losing its market share to Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Company. Both the legacy companies kept matters slow at the start, and then gradually expanded and refined to offer more worry-free alternatives at Ola S1 Pro’s price range. This boosted both Bajaj Auto and TVS to 1st and 2nd most popular electric two-wheeler manufacturers in the country. 

However, Ola Electric wishes to keep matters exciting with a much-anticipated future that includes electric motorcycles. The Roadster range has already debuted, and production has also commenced; deliveries will start in a short while. Will the Ola Roadster be able to pull Ola Electric out of its woes, with a polished and reliable build quality, is something that now remains to be seen.

(Source)