Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, who recently engaged in a heated exchange with comedian Kunal Kamra, is making headlines again because of a past interview. A clip from one of his past interviews, where he discussed his thoughts on work-life balance, is going viral. In his interview with YourStory last year, he mentioned that taking weekends off is not an “Indian thing,” but rather a “Western cultural import.”
“I don’t think work-life balance is the right idea. I know this is a different opinion, and some people might disagree with me,” he said.
“Many might not agree, but I believe… Let me start with a historical perspective before I explain my philosophy. The Saturday-Sunday weekend is not an Indian tradition; it comes from the West,” he added.
In India, we never used to have Saturdays and Sundays, he said, adding, “We followed the Lunar Calendar, and our holidays were based on that.” He mentioned that we had one or two days off each month. “Then it became a Western cultural import, and after that, the industrial revolution happened…” he explained.
The video gained popularity just days after Kamra and Aggarwal exchanged jabs on social media.
The comedian posted a photo showing a large number of EV scooters parked at an Ola service center.
Do Indian consumers have a say? Do they deserve this? Two-wheelers are crucial for many daily wage workers… If you have any issues with Ola Electric, please share your experience below and tag everyone,” he wrote.
However, Kamra’s post annoyed Aggarwal, who referred to it as a “paid tweet.”
“Since you care so much (Kunal Kamra), why don’t you come and help us? I’ll even pay you more than what you earned from this paid tweet or your unsuccessful comedy career. Otherwise, just be quiet and let us concentrate on solving issues for our real customers. We’re quickly expanding our service network, and we’ll clear backlogs soon,” he said.
This didn’t sit well with Kamra, who, in a separate post, shared a clip from his stand-up routine and wrote, “Here’s a clip from last year when I surprised an audience… anything else you arrogant, substandard prick?”
Aggarwal responded by criticizing Kamra and offering to take him to the Ola service center, where he would “pay better than your flop shows do.”
Aggarwal was then challenged by Kamra to provide a “total refund” to anyone wishing to return an Ola EV.
In a post on October 7, Kamra joked, “Bhavish Aggarwal, who thought Sundays should be a working day, worked yesterday to prove himself wrong…”
Meanwhile, Ola Electric received a show-cause notice from the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) regarding alleged violations of consumer rights, misleading advertising, and unfair trade practices, according to the company’s regulatory filing. The notice was sent to the company via email on October 7, 2024.
According to Ola’s filing, the “Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued the notice for alleged violations of consumer rights, misleading advertisements, and unfair trade practices.”
