The public sentiment is overwhelmingly negative towards Ola Electric, driven by outrage over toxic workplace culture and negligence in employee welfare, especially following the tragic suicide incident. Many comments emphasize the urgent need for accountability, systemic reform in corporate practices, and heightened focus on employee mental health.

Ola Electric

CEO Bhavish Agarwal

I used to work in Krutrim AI, in Priyanka Nayak’s team, we worked closely with Rajkiran’s team, resigned without any other offer due to the work pressure. I felt suicidal one day sitting in the cafeteria, resigned the same week. I had worked with the guy who ended his life. Rest In Peace brother. 

OLA is really toxic, STAY AWAY.

Also, new projects get assigned on friday and expectation of management is to show demo on Monday to BA ( Bhavish Agarwal ) - this is more of a norm than exception 

NoExpression4184

I have worked closely with the kid who got killed, Raj Kiran, upper management - Bhavish, Navendu, Suvonil (left now), Ankush, Tushar Mehndiratta.    
  
The kid, who got killed here, was one of the brightest kid, always smiling, very passionate. This is why Rajkiran treated him as the go-to person. He kept him overloaded all the time, since last 7-8 months. From the first week may be when he joined, he was overloaded, because he was very good at his work, very passionate and dedicated. 

Rajkiran has created such a mess in managing teams, he gets panicked, and instills the same panic to everyone. He used to keep engineers working on projects in a hidden manner, which were decided clearly that not to continue working on. Because he assumed that he will not let his team morale down, as projects kept starting and closing on a biweekly basis. That is the stupidest thing to do, when everyone is already overloaded. He would keep such projects continued in secrecy. 

RK used to just agree to what has been asked by Bhavish - like something which would have taken 4 months to complete, let us complete that in 6- 10 days timeline. And then before every bhavish meetings, he would be panicking before facing him. RK was earlier an employee of Microsoft, initially he was definitely not a good manager, but at least not so evil person. But lately he smirks and feels proud in firing people, even after this horrible incident, he puts the blame in smirking manner upon the junior folks only.  

But this is not only RK, there are bigger MFs - Navendu - sweet spoken - but such a cunning guy. He would just keep agreeing to every random tantrums of Bhavish, and then eventually wrath is faced by engineers. I have seen 50+ engg going into war room setup, 7 days a week, over weekends, and this happening continuously over months on months. Propogates politics in shameful sweet cunning ways, blame games and ass saving at extreme levels. I hope his own kids read this and learn about him.  

Navendu - internally asked not to talk to police etc, just pass on to ola legal. They are suppressing the news. The kid who died was almost the age of his children. Shame!  
   
Navendu, supposed to be the next to Bhavish in the hierarchy, has no strategic ways. Just agree to the top, and then ask all engg to work on bullshit things, just to get closed again within the next 2 weeks. 

Ankush Agarwal - Brother of bhavish, learns the same shit from big brother. In fact all these folks mentioned are asked by Bhavish, to treat people harsh and get more things done, on unrealistic timelines. Treat smart people like shit, overload with fake timelines and urgency, just because it has been asked by Bhavish. No one can dare to suggest some logical timeline or expectation.   
  
Tushar Mehndiratta - Biggest chutiya, who is being given a lot of money and designation, just because he is acquantaintce of Bhavish. He is such a mess, stupid person. He feels he is smart, but he is utter dumb person. He can frustrate anyone with his now removed from Krutrim projects, but still being a pet dog in the org. He used to keep bugging, disrespecting all the juniors, bullying as if nobody else knows their job.

Suvonil - enough info about him on reddit already.

the mode of operation is - agree to bhavish, burn engineers and every other folks, save your own ass with someone to blame upon. Go back to bhavish, and then start another project.

The culture is such a mess, that everyone succumbs to Bhavish, even young freshers hired have to face so much craziness and tantrums. I have seen kids losing health, falling to sickness, all in the name of founder office great learning experience. 

May be a lot of start ups culture would have been bad, but not as bad as Ola. It is difficult to imagine from outside how worst this place is (You are still underestimating the worseness). These people are passion killer. They attract passionate people, and then kill their passion. But now killing people literally. 

  
The kid who got killed, was one the most sweetest, humble dedicated guy, with very very smart mind. I am so disturbed as I am unable to forget his smiling face and friendliness.

Historical_Snow_8211

Damn,I'm so sorry to hear, please leave the jobs it's not really worth it.

Viral_Lord123

I feel sorry for your colleague. My thoughts and prayers goes to his family and friends. 

I’ve no idea why people even join OLA for work. Their founder is full of shit and is known to be an extremely toxic person. They once dominated the electric 2W market but now their market share is coming down. 

They give attractive packages and many people fall for it.

[deleted]

I got to know how shittier OLA's management is from Kunal Kamra's expose of pathetic OLA service and evoking Nationalism to hide failed products and services. Krutrium AI was also another failed product promoted as India's AI contender for the US. Bhavish was boasting something that was never proved or tested at such a scale. It is always the engineers who have to suffer if you work under such founders who like to make earth shattering claims and do show off. He wanted to be Tony Stark of India while his own Iron burns under the hot sun. I advise  freshers and experienced engineers not to sell your skill for your peace. I have faced umpteen circumstances where I have no option but I survived, I have been unemployed for 1.5 years, my visa got rejected 4 times, moved to France with a loan that was accepted just a week before classes started, and then Covid hit, it lasted longer than the money in my loan account. But, I showed resilience, talked to people, worked hard, secured three jobs(Ericsson, IFSTTAR(french research institute), and a startup in Nice) while Covid was still blinking. Currently I work at Airbus. Who knows what's in the Jar. No one not even you. So, be calm under pressure, talk to your friends and family. Your life is more valuable than any bald head shouting at you. If you feel too depressed, close your laptop and go on a sick leave for a month or two. You can always get your lifestyle back not your life. All the best!

Yk_thedataguy

This Panuganti scene happens in many companies. Founder gets impressed by someone in the US who has experience in a technology at a large company. They hire the NRI. But NRI is not committing and moving back to India because "bachon ka school" etc. which is sometimes an excuse to not move back also.   

So they sit in the USA and cannot put in enough work to justify their massive pay package (they have been attracted away from American employers after all). Besides, they probably moved there decades ago and are so out of touch with post-Jio, post-UPI India.   

I have seen this play out at a peer and reportee level, and have made this mistake myself. While I empathise with all of them – founder, the NRI and their team, but fact is that this is a bad call by the founder and the NRI, they are the older and more experienced people and should know this will not workout instead of hoping for a miracle.

ostrish

Bhavish if you’re reading this, FUCK YOU! 
And FUCK YOU Thasim.

Odd-Skin-1092

This is heartbreaking and deeply disturbing. No job should ever come at the cost of a person's life. I hope accountability is ensured legally, and others find the strength to speak up before it's too late.

Icy-Bison-7433

I used to work under RK and I am glad that I left at the right time. He is so gutter mouth that it becomes impossible to talk to him. From the day I resigned to my last working day, not a single message from him as to why I am leaving. Just blank silence. 

The work culture in Krutrim is horrible. They try to cover that up with increased pay offers sometimes. No amount of money can make up for the mental trauma under RK. 

The guy who committed suicide was my colleague. He was a graduate trainee , joined from campus placement of a very elite government research institute in Bangalore.  He was young and lively and full of passion. 

I feel sorry for his family. May RK reap for what he has done.

NectarineSad2417

RIP, and the worst part is that a lot of startups have similar working conditions, unrealistic expectations and call it hustle / ownership.

CardiologistOld4537

Paldorei

This panuganti guy had a team of 6 full time + 3-4 interns. All left one by one. He would openly misbehave with his team mates, would call out names. He used to call people at midnight and tell them he wanted the work done by morning or there will be consequences. 


The fun part is Ola’s HR tells of the toxic work culture on the day of orientation itself. They take pride in their toxic culture. 

Bhavish is the biggest fraud one can find. krutrim-2, which they are trying to hype and sell is basically Deepseek in the background with lots of guardrails.

Their entire stack is copy of ai4bharat’s model and data.

Fine-Holiday4587

https://preview.redd.it/kri7t1hvoz1f1.jpeg?width=200&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=a414251a9a9003fc2d614a324edd1198767261c2

Is this the Rajkiran Panuganti you are talking about? He is all over Twitter now.

Plastic-Bicycle-2689

Ola’s core foundation has been toxicity and shitty culture. I had to literally force one of my friends to quit even if he did not even have an offer. Working weekends, he used to get random calls at night as well. Bhavish Aggarwal also had this habit of visiting people at their desks and then lashing out at them. Not just that even the companies less talked about like Turban Company, GayTm are no better. I was bullied at Turban Company during a hackathon by someone from the senior management who was visibly stoned. The HR departments in all of these Indian startups are non existing. HR just means talent acquisition in these companies. They do nothing beyond that. Most people who know how Indian startups are, would much rather get a job in the US and then incur a layoff than stay safe in an Indian startup. Believe me you, IT IS THAT BAD!

MundaneSmoke5040

Panuganti? Seems to be one of those telegu folks with years of fake work ex. Obviously sitting in US as thats their final destination.

Unhappy_Worry9039

If you guys are in tech, why work for toxic companies ? Genuinely curious. Obviously salary doesn’t matter when you’re thinking of ending your life.

Abhi_hex

Fellow Indians please have more children may India stay saturated with employees so we can transfer this nonsense to our kids as well

Substantial-Ask8921

Expensive-Village-49

We really need to create a safe space for people to really express what they are feeling without any judgements

Comet-howl-420

Is it same for SDEs too?
I will be joining OLA in july as SDE

mentalistv_

What can you expect from Indian founders. They want to make money by hook or crook. They have normalised treating employees as their personal slaves. I have worked with multiple supervisors and specifically Indians have the worst mentality when you talk about the culture.

Immediate_Try_558

...and to think that I wanted to start my data scientist career in Ola. 🫣

JayBong2k

Guys, this is terrible. I run a mental health company and we are fighting everyday to give the lift back to the employees. We all deserve to live.
Please make this viral and let them know what they have done! This is madness

Kooky_Drawing_6577

Best way to have successful offshore model, NEVER APPOINT AN INDIAN TO MANAGE OFFSHORE TEAMS FROM OVERSEAS. Have an American guy as manager to manage offshore teams. Toxic and exploitative feudak mindset is the reason why so many young men in offshore take these extreme steps. Sad we lost a bright mind and a fellow human who should have lived his full life.

He went on private mode on linked in... lol

ihxxx

Please.Just.Leave. Do not tolerate abuse. There is always another job , another company ,another boss.

Intrepid_Captain

Ask yourself following
1. Is he the only one getting such work pressure in the company? Isn't whole company work culture toxic?
2. Why didn't he simply quit the job? Have someone pointed gun on the head and told him you can't leave. Would it be worst than being ghost?
3. Many of us, suffering due to toxicity, have we quit?

What you want is right - FIR should be raised and manager should ne behind bar, but I am interested in saving lives also. Lets not justify suicide. Duniya mein agar aaye to jeena hi padega, jeevan hai agar jahar to peena hi padega. Should ne attitude.

Any sucide points finger to us. What are we doing for mental health?. I asked same in a depression group, out of 10,000 only 200 were doing meditation. All of those 200 said my depression is fading away with meditation. So hand folded request, do meditation daily even for 10 minutes. Now Art of Living made all meditation free through Sattva app. Meditation is mental hygiene and its critical in tough situations. Its not important you do Sattva, you do Vipasana, Bramha Kumari, isha whatever. All of them help in uplifting state of mind and improves quality of life. It is not only me, from Anand Mahindra to billgates all said that please do meditation.

deepeshdeomurari

[https://github.com/panuganti](https://github.com/panuganti)

HiringDevsMsgMe

Ola used to be client of my previous organisation. Though we haven't faced the toxicity directly, we clearly saw the pressure through which employees used to go. More of the systemic issue, where pressure and toxicity oozing from a very apex position. As said by many, Ola is run by Lala not a tech genius.

TroyLover

Ola and its sister companies are not a place to work if one wants to keep himself/herself alive. Potential candidates - stay away. Find some other job/work. I know a fried who worked with Ola Electric. He reported to work 5 minutes late on day and Bhavish made him run 2 rounds around the campus in a hot summer day. This is the level of toxicity guys.

WisePineapple2943

My heartfelt condolences to the family. This is tragic. I worked with Ola for two years and took a sabbatical. That was five years ago. I did not step into corporate again. That was the level of trauma that toxic company has bestowed upon me.

loonylovegood18

It seems OLA Krutrim is trying its hand on in-house AI product and is not going anywhere. That seems to me a lack of vision from leadership and hiring wrong people to lead the effort. This guy ‘Rajkiran Panuganti’, after reading the posts, seems to me is handsomely paid but unable to translate the objective to deliverable and hence vents out on subordinates. Anyway he seems to be just passing his time. On the leadership of OLA Krutrim, it seems to be a typical lala-company (family run) with very weak HR. My suggestion in such case would be to explore outside, specially more corporate based companies which are headquartered in Europe or Americas. If you have skills, don’t hesitate to venture out.

AnnualAlternative286

Did anybody raised police complaint and bring it to the ministry of labor department? Sad that a young professional departed so soon due to toxic culture.

SunnyRat77

I have heard similar type of culture at zepto

Kitchen-Baseball4849

Got RK on youtube: 
https://youtu.be/sAArupMmqyA?si=Eu9-OPdqCbET-A65

tube32

Makes me think that modern startup treat employees like old age workers wanting them to deliver maximum work giving them just enough time for them to stay alive. Why put the idea of a personal life in the brains it would have been easier if nobody knew the concept of  personal time . Hypocrisy to appeal to the masses while wanting the employees to work like they are at war , a war that is waged at the convenience of the CEO

Jett_ace

We have to unionise for preventing this to happen

Babu_s23

karma_monitor

I have heard that Bhavish Agrawal is Rude and does not respect anyone...Often calls on Weekoffs and Holidays and make the employees life miserable...Response like saying he was on Leave does not make any sense against the truth that he was too much into work pressure. 


Company needs to treat people like Humans and not Animals 

Silver_Knowledge_648

All prayers to the family of the bright mind who died May God give patience and strength to his family.

I was employed 1 year ago at a company called Taabi Mobility which basically does fleet management , the working culture if not worst but at par with what I am seeing here they used to expect the working demo on Monday giving the requirements on Friday . It was a startup the owner was a shitty whore who was a credit stealer bitch . 

The working conditions were unprofessional as senior people used to hurl abuses at interns they used to hire interns to do developer work 

Glad I left that place

athar1996

Very tragic. A brilliant young engineer exiting the world in this manner is heartbreaking. The people responsible for the toxic work environment need to be held accountable. But here’s the thing: the reality of modern society is such that a majority of people are operating in a similar state of stress. Kids are under constant pressure to “make it” in life, working professionals are under constant stress to “grow”, heavily indebted farmers….. But (thankfully) only a small percentage of people under extreme stress actually take the extreme step. What I am trying to say is that there’s something deeply misunderstood about suicide in our society; a toxic workplace, or extreme academic pressure is only a trigger that activates a complex personality disorder that is not yet completely understood in the medical field. It takes incomprehensible strength and will power to take one’s own life.

SheepherderQueasy384

I wouldn’t be surprised if similar stories start surfacing from Swiggy. The working environment under Vivek Vasvani has become toxic to the core. Multiple people have experienced daily intimidation, being threatened, belittled and made to feel worthless in every conversation. What’s happening isn’t just poor leadership, it’s repeated, systemic workplace harassment. Many have walked away not because of the constant emotional toll. This isn’t a one-off. It’s a routine. Swiggy HRBPs are spineless. They don't have the courage to hold him accountable. Their inaction has led to worse possible toxic environment in the entire Swiggy

whistleblower2107

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ3S4VsoY6d/?igsh=ZGJ5ODNhNmdvOHd1

Womanssplainer

I have a friend who too was working at Ola. He shared one of those toxic work culture incidents at Ola where his reporting manager used to say cuss words to all his team in review meetings. One day all of a sudden he was told to work on Krutrim, just 2 weeks before its launch. He couldn’t sleep for straight 5 days. He has resigned couple months back sighting ill leaders with zero empathy with hazy goals and objectives.

paresh_rao

99% of the leaders in Ola are chamchas for Bhavish.

You enter the campus and find dogs loitering around .You wanlk around the building and find dogs shitting around .You go to the canteen to see Bhavishs favourite dogs wandering and waiting for you to give them something.  
  
No doubt the company is running in a loss.The Stock price is 50% down than the listing price.I will not comment about their scooters ,bikes because it is not worth a comment.

Reasonable-Case-4266

Anyone here works in their marketing team? Any reviews on that front?

twiddling_thumbs

AnnualAd6395

fknows7

# Bengaluru Ola employee dies by suicide, blames CEO, company in 28-page death note

[https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/bengaluru/story/karnataka-bengaluru-ola-ceo-bhavish-aggarwal-suicide-k-aravind-2805784-2025-10-20](https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/bengaluru/story/karnataka-bengaluru-ola-ceo-bhavish-aggarwal-suicide-k-aravind-2805784-2025-10-20)

bornwithbugs

So low budget Elon Musk is now in trouble

brijesh8421

Rest in peace 🙏

&gt;Notably, Ola has issued a statement, explaining that the employee never raised any complaint or grievance regarding his employment or harassment.

Oh, that's a surprise, isn't it?

googleydeadpool

What happened in EY GDS case, where employee died due to overwork?

Law and order does not exist in India.

msaussieandmrravana

Guys just leave toxic work culture. Don't work there and reach out to mental health support. Job is not the end.

I left a toxic workplace and move to another company.

Sunloverzheat

There was another developer at Krutrim.ai who also chose this path over work pressure but that case is probably closed now and he did not get in trouble. 

Last time the basis of work pressure and harassment was statement from friends but this time it is an actual suicide note so he is more in trouble this time.

Life_Minimum_2047

Ola has a toxic workplace, but the industry is to blame. All the CEOs starting from Narayana Murthy, that L&amp;T Chairman, TCS CEO, Zepto founder etc. who were harping about work life balance are complacent in this. I wonder if they realize the things they say, the things they do can influence the wider industry leading to consequences like this. How shitty of a person do you have to be to have made it in life, and go out of your way to make it shitty for everyone around you?

xtze12

IREDA1000

yasarfa

Not paying salary to Employees. Wow! And payroll sambhal nai raha and Elon Musk banna hai.

Vinashak_Creator

sick-charlie-brown

toxoplasmosix

&gt;A colleague of the employee claimed on Reddit that he died by suicide due to “extreme work pressure.” In the widely-circulated post, the Reddit user claimed his co-worker at Ola was made to handle the work of three people despite being a fresher. An employee of Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola’s AI division, Krutrim, he was unable to cope with the pressure and died by suicide.

one_brown_jedi

To quote from the article: 
"co-worker at Ola was made to handle the work of three people despite being a fresher."

In the context of rising unemployment in (capitalistic) society, a Company simply refuses to hire more employees to adequately supervise the work. 

To what end? To save a few bucks? 

It cost our country a life! A family lost an earning member.

carbonra

"Heartbroken? Spare us the PR fluff. If Ola actually cared about employee well-being, they’d fix the toxic work culture, insane hours, and lack of safety protocols. Issuing a statement after someone dies isn’t compassion, it’s damage control. 


. #ToxicOla #BoycottOla #OlaKills #OlaUnsafe #ShameOnOla #NoMoreOla

Royal_Television_594

#####If you need help and support or know someone who does, *Please Reach Out to Your Nearest Mental Health Specialist*. Here are a few free and reliable resources####


 [**AASRA**](http://aasra.info/): 91-9820466726 (24 hours) 

 [**Sneha Foundation**](https://www.snehafoundation.in/): 91-44-24640050 (24 hours) 

  [**Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health**](https://www.vandrevalafoundation.com/): 09999666555 | 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours) 

 [**iCall**](http://icallhelpline.org/): 9152987821 (Available from Monday to Saturday: 8:00am to 10:00pm) 

 [**Connecting NGO**](https://projectheena.com/connecting-ngo): 18002094353 (Available from 12 pm - 8 pm)

 [**NIMHANS**](http://nimhans.ac.in) : 24 hours counsellors

 [**VIMHANS**](https://www.vimhans.com/emergency) (24 hour counsellors and emergency)

 [**mpowerminds counselling**](https://mpowerminds.com/index.php/oneonone)- Call 1800120820050

 [**FindAHelpline**](https://findahelpline.com/in/) has a list of helplines that you can call for immediate counselling support.

 [**Sneha India**](https://snehaindia.org/new/)  A volunteer suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050, 044-24640060

 Fortis Stress Helpline for Students ** - Call: 08376804102

 [**Kashmir Lifeline**](http://kashmirlifeline.org/) -1800-180-7020 | Kashmir Lifeline offers an anonymous one-to-one conversation with a trained professional, free of cost.

 [**Sumaitri**](https://sumaitri.net/) : A Crisis Intervention Center for Depressed and Suicidal | Call 011-46018404 or +91-9315767849 {12:30 PM to 5:00 PM) 

 [**AASRA**](http://aasra.info) : A 24 hours helpline | Call 09820466726

  **SAHAI Helpline** A 24 hours suicide prevention helpline | 080-25497777, 09886444075

 [**Snehi**](https://www.snehi.org/covid-19) An helpline for children post covid trauma | Call 09582208181 10 AM to 10 PM

 [**Lifeline Foundation**](http://Lifelinefoundation.in) | A Kolkata-based non-profit for grief or mental illness counselling through telephonic therapy  10AM to 10PM. | Call: 033-40447437, 09088030303
 
 [**Mann Talks**](https://www.manntalks.org/) | A free mental health counselling service available over phone and email

         Seek help. Talk to family, friends and professionals. There is always hope. Stay Positive. r/mentalhealthIndia
         


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AutoModerator

Just a stunt. Should have booked the actual people in management involved. Booking the CEO is great publicity with no consequences. He will be let go because without direct involvement, there won't be any proof to bring actual charges

Alz_Own

Lullan_senpai

Well I never understood why people commit suicide? Is leaving your job more tough than taking your life? Companies aren't forcing people to work there right?

Someone's life isn't worth taking for not leaving a toxic job.

ShittyHuman1999

The investigation into a suicide at Ola Electric has raised concerns about workplace conditions, mental health, and corporate accountability.

Ola Electric Employee Suicide Investigation

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