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Amid a spate of troubles at Ola Electric, Harish Abichandani has stepped down as the chief financial officer (CFO) of the electric vehicle (EV) maker. He cited “personal reasons” for his resignation.

In a filing with the exchanges, the listed electric two-wheeler (E2W) maker also announced the appointment of ex-Puravankara (real estate developer) executive Deepak Rastogi as the new CFO.

As per the EV maker, Rastogi’s tenure as the new chief financial officer will come into effect starting January 20. He has also been appointed as a key managerial personnel of the listed company.

An alumnus of SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Rastogi is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He previously served in various capacities at companies like Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals Corp, Tata AutoComp Systems and Castrol.

On the other hand, Abichandani joined the EV startup as its CFO in December 2023, and helmed the company through its D-Street debut in 2024. However, since its public listing, Ola Electric hit a rough patch.

In 2025 itself, the EV maker juggled reputational damage, revenue contraction, product delays, and strategic zigzags. On top of this, persistent poor after-sales services, an intensifying CCPA probe and heavy losses continued to ail the company.

The company also faced allegations of stealing battery technology from LG and toxic work culture that allegedly resulted in an employee death.

For context, Ola Electric’s consolidated net loss declined 15% to INR 418 Cr in the second quarter (Q2) of the financial year 2025-26 (FY26) from INR 495 Cr in the same quarter last year. However, revenue from operations declined 43% YoY to INR 690 Cr during the quarter under review.

As a result, the OEM’s market share in the E2W segment fell to 16.1% last year from 36.7% in the previous year, as legacy giants like TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto raced ahead. On top of this, the EV giant’s stock price has been on a downward spiral. Shares of the company hit an all-time low of Rs 30.79 on December 18.

Due to this, early backers have been selling the EV maker’s shares in droves. Japanese tech investor SoftBank Group offloaded 2.15% stake in the company between September 3, 2025 and January 5 this year.

In December 2025, Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India) also reportedly fully exited the company, while Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Ventures have also sold a portion of their stakes in the EV maker over the past year.

Notably, this is not the first major top-level departure at the company. In December 2025, Vishal Chaturvedi, the head of the company’s cell business, quit citing personal reasons. Chief marketing officer Anshul Khandelwal and chief product and technology officer Suvonil Chatterjee also departed the EV maker in December 2024 over personal reasons.

Shares of Ola Electric closed Monday’s trading session 3.95% lower at INR 35.78 on the BSE.

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