Agarwal Stumbled over Exchanges on X Aggarwal's defensive and confrontational reaction not only escalated the controversy but also redirected the focus from the concerns of customers to the behaviour of the CEO.

By Priyanka Tanwer

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Bhavish Agarwal, Founder & CEO Ola Electric

In the past week, Ola shares saw a dip after a social media spat between its CEO Bhavish Agarwal and comedian Kunal Kamra due to a post on X by latter over the piling up of complaints of company's electric scooters.

Kamra who voiced against the delay in service and tagged union minister Nitin Gadkari and other government bodies to look into the matter, was asked to work at Ola service centre by Agarwal in the reply.

Following the spat which initiated a various conversation among industry, netizens, and influencers ranging from PR and marketing strategy to rude and arrogant behaviour of OLA CEO, the company's shares were plunged down 9 per cent.

This incident which could have been avoided by just not doing an impulsive reply to the comedian and with a better management by the team of the company was further dragged and the central government slapped a notice to the company and launched an investigation into the matter.

While entrepreneur came forward in defence of Agarwal, a social meida influencer Aditya Shah shared some screen shots where Ola had reached out to him for a paid promotion of the company and said, "While the Ola Electric CEO rants on someone else's paid tweet or not, I & multiple influencers were approached to do a paid tweet about Ola just as recently as last month."

Remarks by Ola CEO drew widespread criticism and raised questions about how leaders should engage with their critics on social media platform.

In the past, Zomato had also received criticism when it tried to introduce "Veg-Fleet" by assigning green uniforms to the delivery executives who were engaged in delivering veg orders. However, he quickly withdrew the idea as the founder Deepinder Goyal understood the mood of the people over the matter.

October 6th weekend ended differently for both the founder and CEO as on the one hand Agarwal got involved in the social media spat with the comedian inviting a lot of criticism while on the other hand, Goyal posed as delivery executive and went to a mall to deliver food to understand the ground reality and the challenges that delivery partners face.

Both the incidents offer an important lesson in how the leaders should manage their public relations during the criticism. Aggarwal's defensive and confrontational reaction not only escalated the controversy but also redirected the focus from the concerns of customers to the behaviour of the CEO.

Priyanka Tanwer

Former Sr. Correspondent

  
Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

'Everyone Can Profit From It': What Is DeepSeek? China's 'Cheap' to Make AI Chatbot Climbs to the Top of Apple, Google U.S. App Stores

DeepSeek researchers claim it was developed for less than $6 million, a contrast to the $100 million it takes U.S. tech startups to create AI.

News and Trends

India Witnesses a Surge in Cyberattacks, Healthcare Sector Most Targeted: Report

The increasing use of GenAI tools has further amplified these threats through disinformation campaigns, deepfake videos, and targeted phishing schemes

News and Trends

Padma Awards 2025: Indian Gov Gives a Round of Applause to Tech Figureheads

While previous editions of one of the country's highest civilian Awards have largely recognised contributions to computing, semiconductors, and machine learning, this year saw AI and deep tech gain widespread acknowledgement.

Business Ideas

87 Service Business Ideas to Start Today

Get started in this growing industry, with options that range from IT consulting to childcare.

Business News

Uber's CEO Says Drivers Have About 10 Years Left Before They Will Be Replaced

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says the jobs of human drivers are safe for the next decade, but after that, another type of driver will take over.