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Ola Electric’s CTO Suvonil Chatterjee, CMO Anshul Khandelwal quit adding to top-level exodus

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ETtechLast Updated: Dec 27, 2024, 10:16:00 PM IST

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Synopsis

Two senior executives at Bhavish Aggarwal's Ola, Suvonil Chatterjee and Anshul Khandelwal, resigned from their positions at Ola Electric, citing personal reasons. Their exits contribute to a series of senior-level resignations across the Ola group, including the departure of top executives from Ola Consumer and the ride-hailing business, amid declining market performance.

CMO Anshul Khandelwal (left) and CTO Suvonil Chatterjee, Ola Electric

Two longtime senior executives at Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola have resigned from the electric two-wheeler maker.

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Chief technology and product officer Suvonil Chatterjee and chief marketing officer Anshul Khandelwal have quit effective Friday, the firm said in an exchange filing.

Both Chatterjee and Khandelwal first joined ride-hailing platform Ola Cabs, later moving to Ola Electric. While Chatterjee joined Ola in 2017 as the head of design, Khandelwal started in March 2018 as the head of marketing.

Their exits add to a series of senior Ola executives who have exited the three firms, including AI venture Krutrim, this year.

ET reported exclusively on December 13 that Ola group chief people officer N Balachandar had stepped down from his role last month.

“Suvonil and Anshul both have been a part of Bhavish’s inner circle for many years now…Suvonil particularly has been leading a number of Ola’s tech projects including the latest initiatives such as Ola Maps and Krutrim,” said a person aware of the developments. “Both of them had told Bhavish about their intention to quit a few months ago,” the person said.

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Chatterjee, who was formerly head of design at Flipkart, has been an instrumental figure in Ola’s top hierarchy.

In his resignation email, Chatterjee wrote, “Formally sending in my resignation effective today December 27, 2024.”

Ola Electric said the executives have resigned citing personal reasons.

“It has been an incredible journey, and I am grateful for the opportunities to contribute to Ola’s inspiring vision. However, due to personal reasons, I request to be relieved of my duties effective today,” Khandelwal wrote in his resignation letter to Ola Electric’s chief financial officer Harish Abichandani.

Other top exits

In October, Ola Consumer chief business officer Sidharth Shakdher quit, within nine months of joining, and moved to fintech platform Paytm as its chief marketing officer and the business head of a unit. The same month, Ola Electric vice president and head of sales Mahesh Alanthat resigned.

Ola group top-deck exits in 2024_Updated_27 Dec_2024_Graphic_ETTECH

In the group’s ride-hailing business – under parent company ANI Technologies that is planning to go public next year – chief financial officer Kartik Gupta exited in May.

Gupta’s exit had come just two weeks after the CEO of mobility business Hemant Bakshi stepped down.

In the past few months, Ola Electric also laid off 300-400 people across departments but mainly in manufacturing and supply-chain management roles. The company is also facing a decline in market share, increased customer complaints and a fall in its stock price.

In its IPO prospectus, Ola Electric, which listed on the bourses in August this year, said it witnessed a high employee attrition rate in the past. In FY24, the employee attrition rate was 44.25%.