Despite Clarification, Ola Electric Suffers More Raids In Maharashtra’s Pune

Ola Electric Mobility Ltd continues to draw the ire of the Maharashtra government, despite promising to procure trade certificates for its stores in the state.

Pune's regional transport office has served notice to 17 Ola Electric stores in the city over the sale of new vehicles without permission. That amounts to a violation of India's transport law.

“You have not been issued a trade certificate under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Also, when the motor vehicle inspected their showroom, new vehicles were found for sale or servicing without permission,” the notice dated 7 April stated. It was written in Marathi.

“It should be noted that if the said vehicle does not have a business certificate, penal action will be taken against your establishment, as it is deemed to be a violation of the applicable tax registration provisions and insurance rules applicable…”

NDTV Profit has seen a copy of the 17 notices that were served.

The action follows Ola Electric's clarification to the Maharashtra government that it's now in the process of applying for trade certificates for its stores in the state.

“We have rapidly expanded our store network and while we streamline our operations, we are making sure that these stores have all the relevant licences and approvals to operate, including trade certificates from jurisdictional RTOs,” the Bengaluru-based EV maker told Maharashtra's Joint Transport Commissioner Ravi Gaikwad in a letter dated April 5.

“We're committed to ensuring that we are fully compliant with the law and have either already applied for or are in the process of applying for relevant licences and approvals, including trade certificates for our stores.”

NDTV Profit has seen a copy of Ola Electric's letter. This was in response to the March 31 letter that Maharashtra's transport department sent to the company.

During an exclusive chat with NDTV Profit on April 5, Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik had said that RTO raids have found that 300-350 Ola Electric stores in the state are operating on a single trade certificate. He warned of penal action against the company if the situation demands it.

Ola Electric currently operates 488 sales-and-service touchpoints in the state, according to its website. Of these, several were raided in the past month or so over lack of paperwork.