NEW DELHI: A district consumer commission in Andhra Pradesh has held Ola Electric guilty of deficiency in service and directed it to repair the trunk of an advocate’s electric scooter free of charge and also pay him Rs 45,000 in compensation and litigation costs. The commission found that Ola had acknowledged the defect repeatedly but failed to fix it despite the vehicle being within its warranty period.What was the case?M. Murali Mohan, an advocate, purchased an Ola S1 Pro electric scooter in October 2022. The vehicle came with a warranty of 36 months from the date of purchase or 40,000 kilometres, whichever came earlier.The trunk of the scooter stopped functioning properly while the vehicle was in warranty period. The lock system failed which made it impossible to open or secure the storage compartment.Mohan contacted Ola’s service centre in Ananthapuramu, where a technician told him the problem was a lock defect and would be fixed once the spare part arrived.Weeks passed but scooter never got fixed after which Mohan visited the showroom again on October 5, 2025, and he was told the same thing.He then sent a complaint email to Ola Electric the same day, which was acknowledged within minutes. When nothing happened, he sent a legal notice on October 15, 2025. Ola received it but still did not repair the vehicle.When the case came before the commission, Ola Electric engaged a lawyer but neither appeared and also did not filed a written statement within the statutory 45-day period. As a result, their right to contest the complaint was forfeited and the case proceeded based on the complainant’s evidence alone.What did the commission say?The bench comprising president M Sreelatha and member B Gopinath found that the defect had occurred within the warranty period and that Ola had a clear obligation to repair it free of cost. It noted that Ola’s own technician had acknowledged the problem and promised to fix it, but the company failed to follow their own promise and terms and conditions.The court noted that being an advocate the complainant faces serious professional risk because case files cannot be carried securely without a functional trunk.The commission pointed out that only Ola’s own technician could repair the scooter and their own spare parts could be used. The company was therefore the only one who could fix the problem and its failure to do so was a clear case of deficiency in service.The commission directed Ola Electric and its Ananthapuramu service centre jointly to repair the trunk defect free of charge within 45 days. It also directed them to pay Rs 20,000 for deficiency in service, Rs 20,000 for mental agony and Rs 5,000 towards litigation costs. If they fail to comply within 45 days, they will be required to replace the trunk with a new one and pay the compensation amounts with 7 per cent interest from the date of the order.
