Ola Electric to cut around 1,000 jobs in restructuring exercise to reduce losses

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) Ola Electric Mobility is cutting around 1,000 jobs across different functions as part of a restructuring exercise to reduce losses, according to people aware of the development.

When contacted, the company, which had last year trimmed around 500 jobs, without commenting on the exact number of redundancies in the latest round, hinted that these were a result of restructuring and automation of front-end operations.

"We have restructured and automated our front-end operations delivering improved margins, reduced cost, and enhanced customer experience while eliminating redundant roles for better productivity," a spokesperson of Ola Electric Mobility said.

The second round of job cuts in the company within five months comes at a time when Ola Electric has been taking strategic moves to boost EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) margins by almost 10 percentage points, besides improving inventory management and faster customer deliveries.

The company has eliminated its regional warehouses across India, deciding to leverage its 4,000 retail stores nationwide for maintaining vehicle inventory, spare parts, accessories, and last-mile deliveries.

It has also renegotiated contracts with vehicle registration agency partners to streamline the process and further reduce costs.

According to reports, various functions including procurement, fulfilment, customer relations, and charging infrastructure, are expected to be impacted by the latest round of job cuts by the company.

In the third quarter ended December 31, 2024, the company had reported a widening of consolidated net loss at ₹564 crore impacted by lower revenue due to enhanced competition and one-off cost to address service issues. It had posted a net loss of ₹376 crore in the third quarter last fiscal.

The company's revenue from operations in the third quarter stood at ₹1,045 crore as compared to ₹1,296 crore in the year-ago period.

Last year the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) had ordered a detailed probe into complaints related to alleged "deficiencies" in services and electric two-wheelers manufactured by Ola Electric.

The company had said out of 10,644 complaints received from CCPA, it has resolved 99.1 per cent of the complaints.

However, in January this year, CCPA sought additional documents and information from the company regarding the complaints.