Ola Group N Balachandar Steps Down as Senior VP and Group Chief People Officer

N Balachandar, Senior Vice President and Group Chief People Officer of Ola Group, has stepped down, according to an Economic Times report. Balachandar, who joined Ola Electric in May 2021 as Chief Human Resources Officer, later took on a group-level role overseeing HR functions for Ola Cabs (now Ola Consumer), Ola Electric, and AI startup Krutrim.

Balachandar Launches Consultancy Firm

Sources indicate that Balachandar had been in discussions with Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal for months about his departure. He exited the company in November 2024 and is reported to have started his own management consultancy firm. Another source mentioned that Balachandar was approaching retirement and had communicated his decision to senior leadership.

Recent Exits at Ola

Balachandar's resignation is part of a series of high-level exits at Ola this year:

Siddharth Shakdher, Chief Business Officer of Ola Consumer, resigned in October after nine months.
Mahesh Alanthat, Vice President and Head of Sales at Ola Electric, also left in October to join Samsung Mobile.
Kartik Gupta, Chief Financial Officer, stepped down in May.
Hemant Bakshi, CEO of Ola’s mobility business, exited earlier this year.

Ola Electric’s Layoffs and Attrition

Ola Electric, which went public in August 2024, has faced challenges with employee retention. In FY24, the company disclosed a high attrition rate of 44.25%. Additionally, it laid off 300-400 employees, primarily in manufacturing and supply chain roles.

Competitive Pressures

Ola’s ride-hailing business has been losing market share to emerging competitors like Rapido and Namma Yatri, backed by WestBridge and Google, respectively.