Ola Electric Postpones Roadster X Deliveries Again as Shares Slide Over 43%

Ola Electric has again delayed the delivery of its Roadster X motorcycle, the second in two months.

In a stock exchange filing, the company said deliveries will now start in May 2025 after originally specifying April as the delivery month after the missed mid-March deadline.

The Bhavish Aggarwal-led Bengaluru-based electric vehicle company first launched the Roadster X on February 5. But soon reports emerged that the car hadn't even undergone the mandatory homologation process a mere two weeks prior to the initial delivery date.

On April 11, Ola Electric announced that the initial batch of Roadster X bikes was produced at its Futurefactory in Tamil Nadu and that deliveries would start soon. With May now the new deadline, though, customers are still awaiting their orders. Ola Electric has already factored the bookings for the Roadster X into its sales numbers despite the delays.

In a March 21 letter to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the firm revealed that it had accounted for 1,395 Roadster X bookings within its February sales report, despite the cars yet to be delivered.

This move has sparked increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies. According to a report by NDTV Profit on Friday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is now investigating Ola Electric for potential insider trading and irregular related-party transactions. SEBI is reportedly examining trading activity from October to December 2024, along with discrepancies in sales data and other financial matters.

In reply, Ola Electric made a clarification in the form of a stock exchange filing, stating that the mentioned trades were normal transactions involving shares obtained by exercising employee stock options (ESOPs) and not through open market purchase.

"The trades referred were routine transactions involving shares acquired through exercising these ESOPs and not through the open market purchase," the company said.

Ola Electric's shares closed at ₹48.59 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday, declining 0.27%. Data from BSE showed the firm's share price declining over 41% in the last six months. The stock has declined over 43.5% on a year-to-date basis, and for the last three months, the decline has been 34.59%.