(Reuters) -India’s Ola Electric Mobility said on Friday that the government has sought information from the electric two-wheeler maker on the mismatch between its vehicle sale and registration numbers for February, which were caused by a “temporary” backlog in registrations.
India’s heavy industries and road transport ministries have emailed Ola seeking information, the company said in a statement.
Since its high-profile stock market debut last year, Ola has faced mounting challenges, from declining sales to increased regulatory scrutiny.
The company has reportedly cut jobs at least twice since November, and is now restructuring its sales and service networks to focus on cost reductions and inventory management.
While Ola said it has sold 25,000 vehicles in February, a government portal showed only about 8,600 were registered in the month.
This is a straightforward case of a temporary registration backlog, the company said, adding that the backlog intensified after it ended contracts with two vendors handling its registration process as it sought to streamline operations.
It is in negotiations with the vendors and assured that the backlog was being “rapidly cleared”.
Last week, one of its vehicle registration service providers and a creditor of its unit Ola Electric Technologies, filed an insolvency petition against the unit alleging default in payments.
The company has also received notices in four states with regard to trade certificates for a few of its stores, it said on Friday.
(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
