Father Alleges That A Faulty Ola Scooter Severely Injured His Son; Company Denies The Claim
In a series of tweets, one of the customers of Ola electric scooter has complained that a faulty scooter severely injured his son.
Update: Ola Electric has released a statement on the incident.
Our statement on the Guwahati scooter accident pic.twitter.com/LbwDLXNh3P
¡ª Ola Electric (@OlaElectric) April 22, 2022
According to the statement, the company tracks vehicle parameters that it receives real-time in the cloud. Ola Electric says that the rider was over-speeding and braked in panic which lead to him losing control of the scooter.
Ola electric has often courted controversies around its scooters' quality, delivery, and after-sale service. Since they started deliveries in December 2021, the company has faced several complaints.
As the debate around the performance of their electric scooter Ola S1 Pro continues, a new incident has taken the internet by a storm.
Agencies
In a series of tweets, one of the customers of Ola electric scooter has complained that a faulty scooter severely injured his son.
Twitter
The man alleged that his son met with an accident on March 26 due because of a technical error of the Ola Electric scooter.
After his son was trying to slow down a scooter on a speed breaker, it mistakenly accelerated, resulting in the vehicle going airborne and crashing down on the road.
Screengrab
Balwant Singh wrote that his son had fractures in his left hand and 16 stitches in his right hand due to this accident.
Detailing his son's experience, the man wrote:
The scooter went airborne crashing and skidding. My son was severely hospitalised on 26th March where he had fractures in left hand and 16 stitches in right hand due to fault in ola S1 Pro @bhash @OlaElectric pic.twitter.com/nwjTDv7SBA
¡ª BALWANT SINGH (@BALWANT1962) April 15, 2022
He had to be flown from Guwahati to Mumbai to undertake Surgery under Dr. Sudhir Warrier to save his left hand from life long disability. He had 5 wires and a plate inserted in left hand with 2 fingers under doubt @bhash @OlaElectric (3/n) pic.twitter.com/FZ6jyFZfzx
¡ª BALWANT SINGH (@BALWANT1962) April 15, 2022
@OlaElectric on 11th April towed away the scooter and an Executive Chandan Kumar called to understand the issue, but thereafter till date no phone call from Ola when I had requested a call from your legal team. Please contact asap @bhash (4/n) pic.twitter.com/DikvX83m3f
¡ª BALWANT SINGH (@BALWANT1962) April 15, 2022
¡ª BALWANT SINGH (@BALWANT1962) April 15, 2022
@bhash @OlaElectric I am still awaiting Investigation Report of you Ola Team alongwith datasets for the date of accident which ur Executive told was recorded in the scooter but was hesitant to share. Can't we customer's have access to our own ride data? Please share via email!
¡ª BALWANT SINGH (@BALWANT1962) April 21, 2022
Days after his tweets, Ola has now come out to deny these allegations.
Claiming that there were 'no issues with the scooter, they issued a statement saying,
Hey,
¡ª Ola Electric (@OlaElectric) April 21, 2022
Wishing your son a very quick recovery.
And further to our discussion over call your scooter will be delivered to you today.
After thorough investigation, as confirmed on call there is no issue with the scooter and we advice you to please ride safely.
"After thorough investigation, there is no issue with the scooter, and we advise you to please ride safely."
After Ola's response, Balwant Singh wrote:
Only in India, a company like #Ola employs a gang of social media trolls, fake profiles copy pasting abuses & harassment against a customer raising genuine concern. Have some humanity & compassion #OlaElectric My son left hand can be life long disabled. Stop ur dissing trolls??
¡ª BALWANT SINGH (@BALWANT1962) April 21, 2022
With increasing incidents of electric two-wheelers catching fire, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said the companies found negligent will be penalized on Thursday.
BCCL (Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari)
He added that a recall of all defective vehicles would be ordered after receiving the report of an expert panel formed to inquire into the matter.
Gadkari said that several mishaps involving electric two-wheelers have come to light in the last two months in a series of tweets.
Several mishaps involving Electric Two Wheelers have come to light in last two months. It is most unfortunate that some people have lost their lives and several have been injured in these incidents.
¡ª Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) April 21, 2022
"We have constituted an expert committee to inquire into these incidents and recommend remedial steps. We will issue necessary orders on the defaulting companies based on the reports," the road transport and highways minister said.
Reacting to Gadkari's comments, Balwant Singh wrote:
Thank you @nitin_gadkari Sir for acting upon our grievance. The blessings of us parents with you. Accountability should be entrusted in the EV revolution. As an Engineer, we have responsibility for our designs https://t.co/mtStC1ykru
¡ª BALWANT SINGH (@BALWANT1962) April 21, 2022
Ola has been flooded with multiple complaints ever since they started rolling out electric scooters.
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