Consumer court orders Ola Electric to pay ₹20k compensation for billing scooter owner during warranty

The Bangalore Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently directed Ola Electrical Technologies Pvt Ltd to refund the service charges collected from an Ola electric scooter owner for repairing the scooter during the warranty period..A Bench comprising Renukadevi Deshpande and Suma Anil Kumar said that charging the customer for service during warranty period amounted to unfair trade practice and ordered Ola Electric to refund the amount collected and also pay compensation for mental harassment and legal expenses.The Court directed refund of ₹1,635 within 45 days along with 6% annual interest and also ₹20,000 as compensation for mental agony and ₹5,000 towards litigation costs.If the refund is delayed beyond the stipulated time, the interest rate will increase to 8% per annum, the order said..The case arose after a Bengaluru-based consumer, who had purchased an Ola S1X electric scooter in June 2024 with a three-year warranty, faced issues within the first year of usage. The rear wheel rim bent, air leaked from the tire, and the front left brake malfunctioned. The scooter was submitted for repairs on March 13, 2025, at an authorised service centre..A legal notice sent to Ola went unanswered, and the company failed to appear before the Consumer Commission to contest the complaint. Taking note of the facts and documents submitted, the Commission concluded that the company had failed to honour the warranty terms and adopted practices that compelled customers to pay for repairs that should have been free of cost..In its detailed observations, the Commission issued a strong caution to Ola Electric against indulging in similar conduct in the future. It noted that many complaints had been filed in the past against the company’s electric scooters and warned that such lapses in service standards and communication could erode public trust. The forum remarked that large companies should not create situations where customers are forced to approach consumer courts for redressal of minor defects or small monetary claims.The Commission further directed Ola Electric to avoid practices that place an unnecessary burden on consumers and to ensure that warranty obligations are fulfilled in letter and spirit without delay, negligence, or passing on responsibility to unauthorised third parties..[Read Judgment]