Ola restarts e-scooter sales after website glitch, bookings on app only

The firm is starting sales in batches and prioritising users based on their dates of reservation

Ola Electric, which had to defer e-scooter sales due to a website glitch last week, opened the purchase of Ola S1 and S1 Pro on Wednesday. The purchase is available exclusively on the Ola app and the process is completely digital.

Ola is starting sales in batches and prioritising users based on their dates of reservation. Everyone who reserved their scooter is being notified about their purchase window by email, SMS and app. They can buy the scooter anytime after the purchase window opens. Customers can choose their colour and variant. It has the S1 (Rs 99,999) and S1 Pro (Rs 1,29,999) e-scooter models. The advance payment towards S1 and S1 Pro is Rs 20,000. No other payment needs to be made at this moment.

“Everyone who hasn't reserved the scooter yet, can do it now for Rs 499 on the Ola app,” said the company. “Deliveries will begin in October 2021.”

Customers will be notified of estimated tentative delivery dates within 72 hours of purchase.

"Floodgates to the revolution are truly open," tweeted Bhavesh Aggarwal, co-chairman and group chief executive officer, Ola, on Wednesday night. "We’re selling 2 scooters every second. India is rejecting petrol and choosing electric. Purchase now open for everyone who’s reserved."

Last week, the SoftBank-backed firm faced technical difficulties in making the website live for the purchase of its e-scooters. Ola had planned the sale from 6 pm on September 8. This was part of its plan to skip the physical store model and go completely digital. However, the company was not successful in providing this first-of-its-kind digital purchase journey as the sale window did not open and people had to wait for hours. A lot of customers vented their frustration on social media platforms for not being able to buy the product.

Last month, Ola Electric took the wraps off its maiden e-scooter offerings - the S1 and S1 Pro - for a commercial launch. With prices starting from Rs 99,999 (excluding state government incentives, registration fee, and insurance cost), Bhavesh Aggarwal, co-chairman and group chief executive officer, had said the e-scooters are designed and engineered in India for the world and will deliver the best scooter experience to the consumer.

Ola is now in direct competition with electric two-wheeler makers, such as Ather Energy, Hero Electric, Bajaj's Chetak, and TVS Motor Company.