Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Companies Ayaan Kartik 5 min Read 21 Apr 2025, 08:45 IST in an investor offer released on April 1, Ola Electric said it has 3,365 stores in the company and 1,071 network partners. (Reuters) Summary The Joint Transport Commissioner of Maharashtra has asked local transport authorities to close all 121 stores from the company that works without trade certificates. OLA Electric Mobility Ltd appears to be in a fresh regulatory soup, as the authorities in Maharashtra, the country’s largest electrical two -wheeled market, want to close at least 121 out of the nearly 450 stores of the company because they do not have proper documents to sell vehicles. Maharashtra’s joint transport commissioner has asked local transport authorities to close all 121 stores that work without trade certificates. Mint checked a copy of the letter sent to the local authorities. In fact, the state transport commissioner confirmed to Mint that 270 more OLA electric stores would be issued. According to the letter, 75 of these 121 stores have already been closed and the local authorities were asked to close the rest. In the letter of April 16, the joint transport commissioner wrote: “If the showroom or shop cum service center of the company m/s OLA Electric Mobility Limited does business in your operating area without obtaining a trade certificate from the transport office, action must be taken to close the center or showroom.” Read also | The strange case of Ola’s scooter ‘Sales’ without invoices to be sure, Maharashtra recorded 212,000 sales of electric two -wheelers in the financial year ended March 31, making it the largest electrical two -wheeled market in the country. In the financial year 2025 (FY25), Ola Electric sold a total of 344,000 electrical two-wheelers, according to the government’s Vahan portal, which is a centralized vehicle register database. From this, 40.303 units, or about 12% of its total scooter, were sold in Maharashtra. When an OLA spokeswoman was contacted, an OLA spokesman said: “Your claims about our stores in Maharashtra are speculative, wrong and incorrect.” However, the Department of Transport confirmed the developments to Mint. Maharashtra’s transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar said: “We closed about 75 stores and a total of 121 stores were found without trade certificates. In addition, our department sent the cause of notifications to additional 270 stores.” The OLA spokesman added: “We are working on working closely with the relevant authorities in Maharashtra to address any specific questions or problems.” The local authorities conducted several raids across the state during which they seized a total of 192 vehicles, according to the letter from the Joint Commissioner Commissioner commissioner cited earlier. The regulatory action comes amid inquiries by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The government inquired about the non -compliance with trade certificates, Ola Electric said in an exchange. Maharashtra Saga on March 31, a letter to Ola Electric was sent by Maharashtra’s joint transport commissioner in which the company’s response to a complaint is asked that he operate some of the stores without the necessary documents. According to the letter, the state authorities have made a special effort to inspect Ola stores across the regional transport offices (RTOs) of Mumbai, Borivali and Pune. “During the action done by these RTO offices, it was found that unauthorized showrooms and stores cum service centers are operated and vehicles are for sale without proper registration,” the letter states. The company was asked to give an explanation within three days. Read also | Ola Electric says it has enough service centers. Govt does not buy that Ola Electric replied on April 5 that the company followed a unique direct to consumers’ business model in which it did not depend on traders. ‘Until a few months ago, we operated a model where our vehicles were stored regional distribution centers (SDCs) distributed by the country. These SDCs complied with all licenses, including the trade certificates of the jurisdictional regional transport officers, ‘the company wrote in its answer. The company said they decided to move away from the SDCs and keep the vehicles at the stores. However, the latest development in the state indicates that the authorities are still not satisfied with compliance with trade norms. Ola Electric said in its April 5 letter that the company quickly expanded its store network and is ensuring that “these stores have all the appropriate licenses and approvals to operate, including the trade certificates of the jurisdictional RTOs.” In an investor offer released on April 1, the company said it had 3.365 stores in the company and 1 071 network partners, for a total of 4.436. This latest regulatory action comes at a time when Ola Electric stares competition from Bajaj Auto Ltd and TVs Motor Co. Ltd. Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations in March, Bajaj Auto showed in the retail sales of electric two-wheelers, with TVS car in second place, and OLA third. OLA led overall retail sales in FY25 with 344,009 units and a market share of 29.9%, lower than the FY24 market share of 34.79%. Read also | Ola, Uber, who was investigated on iOS, Android, in the firm’s earnings call on February 7, Ola Electric founder Bhish Aggarwal said: ‘We also emphasized that, given our gross margin expansion as well as controlling the cost of the operational costs, we can expect a motor segment. Ebitda is short for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. According to Vahan data, the company sold about 23,500 vehicles in March. Since the beginning of the year, Ola Electric share price has dropped by more than 38% compared to a 5% drop in the Nifty Auto Index. Shashank Krishna Rao in Mumbai contributed to this story. Catch all the corporate news and updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates and live business news. More topics #evs #ola Electric Mobility Mint Specials
Maharashtra ordered to shut down 121 unauthorized Ola -electrical stores
