Ola group chief people officer N Balachandar quits

N Balachandar, senior vice president and group chief people officer at Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola group, has quit, people in the know said.

Balachandar was appointed as the chief human resources officer of Ola Electric in May 2021 and was elevated to the group level later that year. He headed the HR function for ride-hailing firm Ola Cabs (now Ola Consumer), listed electric two-wheeler maker Ola Electric and artificial intelligence startup Krutrim.

One of the people said Balachandar has started a management consultancy firm. “He had been in discussions with Bhavish (Aggarwal) for several months to resign…finally he left last month (in November),” the person said.


Another person said that Balachandar was nearing his retirement and did not want to extend his tenure with the firm. He had conveyed this to the top management and Aggarwal, the person said.

Ola did not respond to ET’s queries till the time of going press Thursday. Balachandar did not respond to text messages seeking comment.

Balachandar stepping down is yet another senior-level exit at the Ola group this year.

In October, Ola Consumer chief business officer Siddharth Shakdher quit, within nine months of joining, and moved to fintech platform Paytm as its chief marketing officer and the business head of a unit.

During the same month, Ola Electric vice president and head of sales Mahesh Alanthat resigned. He joined the company from Samsung Mobile in March 2023.

In the group’s ride-hailing business – under the parent company ANI Technologies that is planning to go public next year – chief financial officer Kartik Gupta exited in May. Gupta’s exit came just two weeks after the CEO of mobility business Hemant Bakshi stepped down.

Over a span of a few months to November this year, Ola Electric also laid off 300-400 people across departments but mainly in manufacturing and supply-chain management roles last month. This was done amid the company witnessing a decline in market share, increased customer complaints and a fall in its stock price.

In its IPO prospectus, Ola Electric, which listed on the bourses in August this year, said that it has witnessed a high employee attrition rate in the past. In FY24, the company’s employee attrition rate was 44.25%.

According to industry sources, in the ride-hailing space, Ola has been losing ground to younger rivals such as WestBridge-backed Rapido and Google-backed Namma Yatri. The firm, in the hunt for profitability, also exited its international markets in Australia, New Zealand and the UK earlier this year.

The electric two-wheeler company Ola Electric is also facing intense competition from legacy automobile manufacturers such as Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor in the space.

On Thursday, Ola Electric’s shares ended 2.24% lower at Rs 93.98 on the BSE.