(Reuters) – India’s markets regulator has warned Ola Electric against sharing company-related information on social media before disclosing it to investors, adding to a slew of problems for the electric two-wheeler maker.
The letter from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), disclosed by Ola Electric late on Tuesday, said that the company had failed provide “equal and timely access” to its investors of information about a planned store expansion.
Last month, Ola Electric’s founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, shared news about new store openings in a post on social media platform X and to investors about four hours later through the stock exchanges.
Publicly-listed companies are required to disclose any information first to investors through exchange filings and not more than 12 hours after the event takes place.
“The above violations have been viewed very seriously. You are hereby warned,” SEBI said in its letter.
Ola Electric, which went public in August last year, opened 3,200 new stores and service centres last month to expand its reach and address rising complaints on its service standards.
The letter from SEBI is the latest such regulatory scrutiny on the company following a government agency’s investigation into its service standards.
The issues have cast a shadow on Ola’s stellar listing, which saw its shares double in value in less than a week.
It has also lost market share to rivals TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto’s ‘Chetak’ e-scooters in recent months.
Its shares are currently down about 1.8% at 77.74 rupees, nearly 50% below their all-time high hit in August last year. They had fallen as much as 5% earlier in the day.
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
