Ola’s February sales added e-motorbikes not even rolled out yet

By Alisha Sachdev

Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. counted its yet-to-be launched electric motorcycles and e-scooter bookings in its February sales number, making its market share look larger as it struggles to win back investor confidence.

The SoftBank Group Corp-backed firm told India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a March 21 letter that it added customer bookings for 10,866 third-generation e-scooters as well as 1,395 Roadster X motorcycles in its February sales record, citing them as “confirmed orders.”

Roadster motorcycles have not been rolled out so far, while third-gen scooter deliveries began in March. These two categories together accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the 25,207 “confirmed orders” in February, Ola’s letter shows. The ministry had asked the company to clarify on its monthly sales number.

The Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm had reported February sales of “more than 25,000 units” in a Feb. 28 filing. But the vehicle registration tally from a government portal mapped only 8,600 units — roughly a third of the sales figure.

While the e-scooter maker had said on Feb. 19 that its renegotiations with two vendors may delay registrations, this “large gap” between vehicles sold and registered triggered a query from the ministry. Ola responded on March 21, detailing vehicle bookings without clarifying if these were invoiced or delivered to customers.

The ministry in a March 31 letter asked Ola to revise the figures and include only those vehicles that were invoiced in its February data. It also sought Ola’s response within seven days “to avoid any adverse action.” Both letters were seen by Bloomberg News.

Regulatory uncertainty

While no wrongdoing has been established against Ola and the company isn’t under a formal probe on this issue — the ministry may assess if any local laws were broken or if the firm misrepresented its sales — the directives point to the regulatory uncertainty around the firm that has seen multiple crises in recent months.

“Sales in February have been calculated based on the full payment received from customers,” an Ola spokesperson said in an email. The company “recognizes revenue only upon completion of the registration and delivery of the vehicles,” the spokesperson said, adding that Ola was addressing all the queries from the ministry.

The road transport ministry did not respond to an email seeking comments.

Ola’s February numbers are an anomaly not just in the Indian auto sector but also a deviation from the firm’s own filings in other months. Sales for the months of January and March tracked vehicle registrations and didn’t mention bookings.