Irked over EV services, man sets OLA showroom on fire in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi; video goes viral (WATCH)

By Shweta Kumari | First Published Sep 11, 2024, 3:49 PM IST

An Ola showroom in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, was set ablaze by an irate customer on Wednesday after a dispute over the service of his new electric bike.

A 26-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to an Ola Electric showroom in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district over unsatisfactory servicing of a recently-purchased e-scooter, a police official said on Wednesday. Videos circulating on social media depict the showroom engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke billowing from the site.

The incident comes amid growing public ire over servicing at Ola Electric, India's no.1 e-scooter maker. Several mechanics have said Ola service centres face significant backlog and are seeing facing difficulty in dealing with the volume of complaints.

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Karnataka: Mohammad Nadeem set an Ola showroom in Kalaburagi on fire after facing issues with the ongoing service of his new bike. pic.twitter.com/EgmoZs3vgl

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According to news agency Reuters, Mohammad Nadeem, a mechanic by profession, bought the two-wheeler last month, a few days after which he brought it back for servicing on facing trouble with the scooter, the commissioner of police for Kalaburagi said.

Frustrated with ongoing issues, the customer ignited the fire following a verbal altercation with the showroom owner on Tuesday evening.

"The (servicing) response was not good, he went multiple times. Yesterday (Tuesday), when he went, he carried petrol and set fire to six bikes," he said.

No one was injured in the incident, he said.

The police officer, Sharanappa S.D, quantified the damage to the showroom to be worth Rs 8,50,000.

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