Sebi Warns Ola Electric Over Disclosure Norms Breach

BENGALURU: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has issued a warning to Ola Electric Mobility for violating disclosure norms. This comes after the company's founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, announced significant expansion plans on social media before informing the stock exchanges, a move that goes against market regulations aimed at ensuring the timely and equitable dissemination of price-sensitive information.

The incident took place on December 2 when Aggarwal shared on X his plans to expand Ola Electric's retail footprint. He revealed an ambitious strategy to increase the company's store network from 800 to 4,000 by the end of December, describing it as "probably the biggest single-day store opening ever" scheduled for December 20. However, this announcement was made on social media several hours before the necessary disclosure was submitted to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

In a letter addressed to Ola on Tuesday, Sebi highlighted multiple violations of disclosure norms under the Sebi Act, 1992. The regulator underscored the seriousness of the breach and cautioned Ola Electric against future lapses. "You are hereby warned and advised to be careful in the future and to improve your compliance standards to avoid recurrence of such instances," the letter stated.