Sources said India’s biggest e-scooter maker, Ola Electric, has ramped up capacity at its service centers nationwide by over 30 percent to transform its service and elevate customers’ after-sales experience. The Softbank Group-backed firm, which commands nearly a third of the market share in India’s e-scooter market, has added over 50 service centers and hired over 500 service technicians across new and existing service centers to streamline operations and transparent all backlogs.
The company reportedly has also onboarded Ernst & Young for service transformation, strategy, and optimization of overall service processes. This development comes as some centers report backlogs as demand outstripped their workforce. A senior company executive, who requested not to be named, said, “The company has added over 50 centers to its service network and has onboarded more than 500 service technicians across new and existing centers across the country”.
“The company has silently gathered all forces to overcome its service backlog. The company has already cleared around two-thirds of the service backlog and should be able to clear the remaining in the next couple of weeks,” added another senior official within the organization, requesting anonymity. Ola was in the spotlight earlier this month following a public spat between its founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, and standup comedian Kunal Kamra over the quality of service.
Last week, HSBC Global Research maintained a ‘buy’ rating for Ola Electric shares, with a target price of Rs 110 apiece. The global research firm revisited Ola Electric’s service centres a month after an earlier inspection in September and noted substantial improvements in service centres. In its research note, HSBC reported that the backlog at Ola’s service centers had decreased by 20-30 percent month over month, and vehicle outflow is exceeding inflow.
In September, founder and CMD Bhavish Aggarwal announced the #Hyperservice campaign to offer a technology-led, best-in-class after-sales experience. As part of the announcement, Ola Electric plans to double the company-owned service network to 1,000 centers by December 2024.
Though Ola has not released an official progress update on #Hyperservice since its initial announcement, behind-the-scenes efforts suggest a promising impact for maintaining its position as a market leader in the EV 2W segment, committed to transforming the EV 2W ownership experience for users in India.
According to the government portal Vahan, Ola Electric has reinforced its leadership position in the category with an increased market share of over 30 percent in October 2024, up from 27 percent in September 2024.