New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has reportedly issued another show-cause notice to Ola Electric Mobility, seeking an explanation regarding discrepancies in its sales figures for February.
The notice, dated March 21, requests detailed information on the number of Ola scooters sold and registered during the month, as per reports from NDTV Profit.
The show-cause notice asks the company to clarify whether some of the scooters sold in February are on the road without proper registration, if vehicles were delivered to customers without number plates, and whether any scooters were sold from stores without the necessary trade certificates.
It is unclear if Ola Electric has responded to the ministry’s notice within the required seven-day deadline.
Ola Electric had claimed to sell 25,000 scooters in February; however, only 8,652 of these were actually registered.
The discrepancy is said to be the result of renegotiated contracts with vendors responsible for vehicle registrations.
The vendor in question, Rosmerta Group, later filed insolvency petitions against the company, claiming unpaid dues amounting to Rs 25 crore.
In response, Ola Electric stated that it has “amicably settled all outstanding dues” with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ola Electric Technologies Pvt Ltd, and the Rosmerta Group.
As a result, the group has filed a memo for the withdrawal of the insolvency petitions with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Bengaluru.
Ola Electric’s stock took a hit on Friday, with shares falling 3.81% to Rs 52.97 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
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In a related development, the Maharashtra government has stepped up its scrutiny of Ola Electric stores amid allegations of trade violations.
Officials from five regional transport offices (RTOs) recently inspected 26 Ola Electric stores across Mumbai and Pune to check for proper trade certificates. During the inspections, authorities confiscated 36 Ola Electric scooters.
Maharashtra’s Transport Minister, Pratap Sarnaik, has ordered immediate action based on the complaints and has requested a report on the matter.
The inspections were carried out by officials from four RTOs in Mumbai and one in Pune.
