Ola Electric Faces Leadership Changes Amid Market Challenges

Shares of Ola Electric are expected to attract attention on Monday after two top executives, Suvonil Chatterjee (Chief Technology and Product Officer) and Anshul Khandelwal (Chief Marketing Officer), announced their resignations effective Friday. Both have worked for Ola for many years, starting with Ola Cabs before moving to Ola Electric. Chatterjee joined in 2017 and Khandelwal in 2018.

Their resignations add to a list of departures from Ola this year, which also includes executives from the company’s AI project, Krutrim. A source revealed that both Chatterjee and Khandelwal had informed Ola’s founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, about their decision to leave a few months ago. Chatterjee, who used to work as a design head at Flipkart, played a key role in many of Ola’s technology projects, including Ola Maps.

In his resignation email, Chatterjee mentioned, “Formally sending in my resignation effective today, December 27, 2024.” Both Ola Electric and the resigning executives cited personal reasons for their departures. Khandelwal expressed his gratitude for his time at Ola but stated he needed to step down.

In recent months, Ola has seen several leadership changes. In October, Sidharth Shakdher, the chief business officer, also left the company after just nine months. The head of sales, Mahesh Alanthat, left the company the same month.

Ola’s ride-hailing service has faced challenges recently, with some executives leaving and reports of layoffs affecting 300-400 employees, mainly in manufacturing and supply chain. Additionally, Ola Electric has seen a drop in market share, customer complaints, and a decline in stock prices. The company’s IPO prospectus noted that the employee attrition rate was high, reaching 44.25% in FY24.