Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal asks employees to send him weekly updates: 'No exceptions'

Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal

OIa founder Bhavish Aggarwal has asked employees across his companies to send him weekly reports on their updates and accomplishments. In an internal email, Aggarwal called the initiative 'Kya Chai Raha Hai?' or 'What’s going on?' and highlighted that every employee needs to adhere to it with "no exceptions". The move is similar to that of tech billionaire and DOGE (department of government efficiency) head Elon Musk’s recent mandate demanding US federal employees send him weekly reports.

The initiative at Ola was put into immediate effect with the first deadline set for the end of the day following the announcement and future reports due every Sunday.

“We're starting 'Kya Chai Raha Hai?' — a simple way to share your weekly updates directly with me and your managers, starting today," Aggarwal wrote in his email. "Please send a brief update to your manager and Kyachalrahahai@olagroup.in (email will be active in an hour or so) with 3-5 bullet points about what you got done last week. Keep it simple and to the point. Use the email subject: 'Weekly updates'. The deadline for this is today end of day. Going forward, we will expect the email before Sunday end of day. Everyone has to send this, no exceptions.”

The development comes amid layoffs at Ola. Sources told Moneycontrol that the company has initiated a major internal restructuring exercise, leading to the layoff of around 1,000 employees across sales, distribution, and marketing departments.

"The company is identifying areas where restructuring is needed. Some on-ground distribution networks were shut down, and several people there were let go," sources said.

While Ola did not confirm the number of employees impacted, it admitted that a restructuring is underway.

"We have restructured and automated our front-end operations, delivering improved margins, reduced cost, and enhanced customer experience while eliminating redundant roles for better productivity," an Ola spokesperson told Moneycontrol.