The shares of Ola Electric Mobility plunged steeply over 8% this morning, down 43% from its post-listing peak, as complaints about its flagship electric two-wheelers kept flooding social media. This is the third straight session the EV maker declined.

The latest Ola stock crash comes after a public spat between founder Bhavish Aggarwal and comedian Kunal Kamra after the latter flagged the situation of its service centres.

Mr Kamra had called out Mr Aggarwal for not responding to the situation while the irked Ola founder started slamming the comedian over “failed comedy career” and “flop shows”.

Mr Aggarwal said it was a “paid tweet” by Mr Kamra, and he should either help them or “sit quiet”.

The spat took an ugly turn with him inviting Mr Kamra to an Ola service station for work and offering him better pay than his shows while Mr Kamra kept pressing for him for 100% refund to aggrieved Ola customers.

The argument divided the social media with many finding it wrong to go after the wealth creators. Another section, however, found it distasteful for a company executive to engage in such spats while his firm was fighting a crisis.

A social media user called it “peak arrogance” of Mr Aggarwal for trolling a comedian while his company was facing the customers’ wrath over delayed servicing.

“Ola EV Customers in Karnataka setting Ola Showroom on fire for not servicing their vehicle since month meanwhile their CEO Bhavish Aggarwal is busy trolling Kunal Kamra for bringing facts in public, Peak Arrogance,” the user said.

Ola Electric debuted in the share market two months ago. Government data suggests the company recorded its lowest monthly sales in September this year as servicing network challenges threaten its market dominance.

The company sold 23,965 vehicles in September – recording a month-on-month decline in sales amid complaints over the malfunctioning hardware and glitching software in some of its EV scooters.

New Delhi:

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and comedian Kunal Kamra were today engaged in a heated spat after the latter flagged the service centre situation of the company’s electric scooters.

The argument began when Mr Kamra took to his official X account and posted an image showing a large number of EV scooters being parked at an Ola service centre.

“Do Indian consumers have a voice?  Do they deserve this? Two-wheelers are many daily wage workers’ lifeline… Anyone who has an issue with Ola Electric leave your story below tagging all…,” he wrote.

In another post, he responded to a user who said that Ola has a “pathetic service”.

“Worse is the leader has no reply,” Mr Kamra said.

His post, however, irked Bhavish Aggarwal, who said that it was a “paid tweet” and asked Mr Kamra to “come and help” them out.

“Since you care so much Kunal Kamra, 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. We’re expanding the service network fast and backlogs will be cleared soon,” the Ola boss wrote on X.

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. We’re expanding service network fast and backlogs… https://t.co/ZQ4nmqjx5q

— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) October 6, 2024

Mr Kamra then responded to Mr Aggarwal’s post.

“Paid tweet, failed comedy career, and sit quietly. Indian businessman at their humble best… If you can prove I am paid for the tweet this or anything else I must’ve said against private companies, I’ll delete all social media and sit quietly forever,” he said.

He also tagged a clip of his standup act last year. “On my failed comedy career here’s a clip from last year when I surprised an audience… Anything else you arrogant, substandard, prick.”

On my failed comedy career here’s a clip from last year when I surprised an audience & opened for Grover…
Anything else you arrogant, substandard, prick @bhashpic.twitter.com/e7bQzVcCrT

— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) October 6, 2024

Responding to his tweet, Mr Aggarwal again asked Mr Kamra to come to an Ola service centre.

“Chot lagi? Dard hua? (Did it hurt) Aaja (come to) service centre. Bahut kaam hai (We have a lot of work). I will pay better than your flop shows pay you. Show your audience how much you truly care and whether you’re only gas,” he said.

Kunal Kamra then asked Mr Aggarwal to instead give a “total refund” to anyone who wants to return their Ola EV and who has purchased it in the last four months.

“I don’t need your money. People not being able to get to their workplace need your accountability. Show your customers that you truly care,” he wrote.

Responding to his post, the Ola CEO said they have “enough programs” for their customers if they face service delays.

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. https://t.co/HFFKgsl7d9

— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) October 6, 2024

“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,” he added.

Ola Electric’s Dominance Fading?

Ola Electric logged its lowest monthly sales this year in September, government data showed, as it saw its dominance fading due to servicing network challenges.

Ola Electric, which made its stock market debut about two months ago, sold 23,965 vehicles in September, recording a month-on-month decline for the second consecutive month.

Its falling month-on-month sales have seen its market share decline for five straight months to 27% in September, from over 50% in April, according to the data.

The drop in sales comes amid scores of Ola Electric’s flagship S1 series EV scooters reportedly facing issues like malfunctioning hardware and glitching software.

Mumbai:

The central government’s attempt to set up a fact-checking unit has been struck down by the Bombay High Court after standup comic Kunal Kamra filed a petition against the Centre’s move.

Justice AS Chandurkar said the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023, which empowers the Centre to set up fact-check units (FCUs) for identifying fake news online, went against Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution.

“I have considered the matter extensively. The impugned rules are violative of Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and 19(1)(g) (freedom and right to profession) of the Constitution of India,” Justice Chandurkar said, and struck down the proposed IT amendments.

The expression “fake, false and misleading” in the IT Rules was “vague and hence wrong” in the absence of any definition, he added.

The case had gone to a third judge after a division bench of the Bombay High Court in January delivered a split verdict in this matter.

It was the third judge’s verdict that came today.

In March, the Supreme Court stayed a notification by the Centre announcing the operational status of its official fact-check unit (FCU). The Supreme Court had said the Centre can’t go ahead until the Bombay High Court decides on the constitutionality of the matter.

Kunal Kamra and other petitioners had said the amendments would put unreasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression.

The petitioners said the provision would lead to government-led censorship online and empower it to be the “prosecutor, the judge, and in that loose sense, the executioner” of what constitutes the ‘truth’ online.