One employee recalled an incident where the CEO allegedly berated two staff members for not coming to work on a Sunday, even though they had been working from 9 am to 2 am, Monday through Saturday.
Published Oct 26, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 26, 2025 | 9:00 AM
K Aravind’s recent death by suicide was the second of an Ola employee in four months.
Synopsis: The recent death by suicide of a former Ola employee, the second such death in four months, has reignited public concerns over the company’s allegedly toxic culture, which has been documented for years. Former employees who spoke to South First described a hostile, often abusive environment in which staff are expected to work excessive hours, endure verbal tirades, and face punitive measures for raising concerns or taking leave.
“The news reminded me of when I felt suicidal while I was working at the company. I had resigned without any other offer because I had enough,” a former Ola employee said. He was referring to 38-year-old engineer K Aravind, who died by suicide on 28 September.
He had left a 28-page note alleging workplace harassment and misconduct by the company’s senior management. A police complaint filed by his brother names Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and senior executive Subrath Kumar Das, accusing them of harassing the employee, who had been with the company since 2022.
Aravind’s was the second suicide of an Ola employee in four months. In May 2025, another employee, Nikhil Somwanshi, died by suicide in Bengaluru. The 25-year-old machine learning engineer at Ola’s AI venture Krutrim was found dead at Agara Lake in Bengaluru.
A viral Reddit post at the time, by a user claiming to be Somwanshi’s co-worker, alleged that the manager routinely used “traumatic” language with new recruits and created a toxic work environment that led to multiple resignations. The post claimed this had contributed to Somwanshi taking the extreme step.
Though Krutrim said Somwanshi was on personal leave at the time, former employees told South First that the company’s toxic work culture had long been a source of distress.
“I have worked at multiple companies, MNCs, and startups in my career. Nowhere have I found the toxic culture that Ola has,” one former employee told South First.
“You are expected to work like a slave, even on weekends. Projects come out of thin air without proper thinking. I have seen him [Aggarwal] abusing and firing very senior and highly respected people just because they told him the truth”‘ – a former Ola employee.
Former employees of the company, speaking to South First on condition of anonymity, described a hostile and often abusive work environment.
Unrealistic deadlines, abrupt relocations, and a management style that, former employees said, “breaks people down,” were some of their main concerns.
One employee recalled an incident where the CEO allegedly berated two staff members for not coming to work on a Sunday, even though they had been working from 9 am to 2 am, Monday through Saturday.
“They were celebrating a festival with their family members on that day,” the employee said. One of them was allegedly given an ultimatum: get to the office or resign.
If employees explained that they had worked late nights consecutively to handle urgent tasks, and therefore could not work on a weekend, they were labelled ‘unproductive’ and told to manage their time better.
Those who cited medical issues as reasons for missing work were often dismissed as making excuses. Another former employee confirmed the “unrealistic expectations” with work.
“You are expected to work like a slave, even on weekends. Projects come out of thin air without proper thinking,” he told South First.
They added that deadlines are given first, and then the project is assigned. “Normally it is the other way round, how can you tell without knowing what to build and how much time it would take?” the employee asked.
Verbal abuse, they said, is a “norm” at the company. “I have seen him [Aggarwal] abusing and firing very senior and highly respected people just because they told him the truth,” they said.
The employees said the company requires them to serve a three-month notice period to resign. This keeps them tied to the hostile work environment even after deciding to leave.
“They do it so that no company would hire you. Normal industry standard is one month. They know no other company will wait for that long [three months]. All the people I know resigned first and then started looking for a job. They know how to make slaves out of middle class folks,” the employee alleged.
This is not the first time allegations of a toxic work culture have surfaced at Ola. In 2022, a Bloomberg profile of the company detailed complaints from employees about a “relentless pace and management style.”
Around three dozen senior executives across Ola Electric and ANI Technologies Pvt—which runs Ola’s ride-hailing operations—quit within a year or two of joining, according to the report.
Employees also described the CEO as “super intense” and “brutal,” calling unplanned meetings in the middle of the night at 1 am or 3 am.
“In meetings, Aggarwal ripped up presentations because of a missing page number, directed Punjabi epithets at staff and called teams ‘useless’,” the report said.
Meetings scheduled for an hour often lasted 10 minutes because “Aggarwal would lose patience over a superfluous sentence in a memo, a crooked paper clip, or the quality of printing paper,” the report added.
Ola Electric, the report said, was also struggling to retain employees, particularly at the C-suite level. One example cited was Zilingo’s former chief financial officer Ramesh Bafna, who decided not to join Ola Electric even after formally accepting a job offer.
In response, Aggarwal defended the work culture. “Not everybody is a fit for our culture,” he told Bloomberg when asked about his management style.
“There is no world standard on an even, sterile work environment,” he said.
“Passions and emotions run high and we are not on an easy journey. But I don’t want to choose an easier journey for myself or for Ola. My anger, my frustration – that is me as a whole.”
Ola Electric expressed sorrow over Aravind’s death but claimed that Aravind, who had been working with the firm for more than three years at its Bengaluru headquarters, had not raised prior complaints and had no direct contact with top management.
“We are deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of our colleague, Aravind, and our thoughts remain with his family during this difficult time,” an Ola spokesperson said.
“We have challenged the registration of the FIR before the Hon’ble Karnataka High Court and protective orders have been passed in favour of Ola Electric and its officials.”
While initially a case of unnatural death was registered, suspicions arose after the company transferred about ₹17 lakh to Aravind’s account through NEFT after his death.
“When they had not paid for months, how did they suddenly send the amount the very next day of hearing about my brother’s death and cremation?” Aravind’s brother, Ashwin Kannan, told Reuters.
Following this, Kannan lodged a complaint, alleging that the company made the transfer to cover up financial irregularities and was trying to frame his brother to hide their mistakes. Based on the complaint, the police registered a case under Section 108 r/w 3(5) of the BNS.
The company said it “promptly facilitated the full and final settlement to his bank account” to provide immediate support to the family.
“Ola Electric is fully cooperating with the authorities in their ongoing investigation and remains committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and supportive workplace for all employees,” the statement added.
Police said notices were issued to the individuals named in the FIR. Further investigations are ongoing.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
