Bengaluru man sues Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal over defunct AC in cab, wins Rs 15,000

Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal

Ola Cabs co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has been ordered to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation to an aggrieved customer who sued the company over a non-functioning air conditioning unit in one of their cars.

The Bengaluru-based customer, Vikas Bhusan, had registered a complaint of service deficiency against Aggarwal with the Bangalore Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in March 2022, Times of India reported.

His complaint related to an incident that took place in October 2021, when Bhusan, 36, had booked an Ola Prime sedan for eight hours. Although he was promised an air-conditioned car with extra leg room, Bhusan was dismayed to discover the AC in the cab did not work, forcing him and his co-passengers to complete their journey in discomfort.

At the end of the ride, the Bengaluru man was asked to pay Rs 1,837 as cab fare. Bhusan reached out to Ola’s customer care, pointing out that AC was part of the fare and, since it wasn’t working during his trip, requesting a refund from the cab aggregator.

He was told that he had been charged as per the rate card and there was no additional charge for AC, according to the TOI report.

Bhusan next tried to get in touch with Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. In emails to Aggarwal, he again pointed out that AC was included in the fare as per the rate and initial rental agreement. He also tried to get in touch with Aggarwal on Twitter, but received no response on either platform.

Bhusan then filed a complaint against Ola with the National Consumer Helpline in November 2021, demanding a refund.

Ola finally accepted in an email that the AC in his cab was not working but refused to refund his fare. Instead, they offered him a voucher for Rs 100.

This was the last straw for the Bengaluru businessman, who then approached the Bangalore Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission with a complaint against Aggarwal.

The judges examined Bhusan’s complaint and noted that Ola, by its own admission in the email, had collected the entire amount of Rs 1,837 despite the AC in the vehicle not functioning. “Ola is duty-bound to provide all services to customers as promised. In the Bengaluru man's case, they have caused the customer inconvenience and mental agony without providing AC service for the entire trip period of eight hours,” the judges said.

The court ruled in Bhusan’s favour and ordered Aggarwal to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to the businessman for causing mental agony and inconvenience. He was also directed to bear the complainant’s litigation expenses of Rs 5,000, besides refunding the full fare of Rs 1,837 with interest.