TikTok seeks to reassure U.S. employees ahead of Jan. 19 ban deadline
US won't seek charges in unarmed Black motorist Ronald Greene's fatal 2019 arrest
Euro zone households could increase consumption, ECB chief economist says
Foreigners sold South Korean equities last month by most since early 2020
Trump and Biden national and homeland security staff will meet Wednesday for threat exercises
As fires ravage Los Angeles, Tiger Woods isn't sure what will happen with Riviera tournament
Antetokounmpo gets 50th career triple-double as Bucks win 130-115 to end Kings' 7-game win streak
No 97 Laura Siegemund upsets Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen at the Australian Open
By VarunVyas Hebbalalu
BENGALURU (Reuters) -A 26-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to an Ola Electric showroom in the southern Indian state of Karnataka over unsatisfactory servicing of a recently-purchased e-scooter, a police official said on Wednesday.
The incident comes amid growing public ire over servicing at Ola Electric, India's no. 1 e-scooter maker. Several mechanics have said Ola service centres face significant backlog and are facing difficulty in dealing with the volume of complaints.
Mohammad Nadeem, a mechanic by profession, bought the two-wheeler last month, a few days after which he brought it back for servicing on facing trouble with the scooter, the commissioner of police for Kalaburagi, a city some 570 kilometres from Bengaluru, said by telephone.
"The (servicing) response was not good, he went multiple times. Yesterday (Tuesday), when he went, he carried petrol and set fire to six bikes," he said, adding no one was injured in the incident.
Reuters could not immediately verify what the problem with the vehicle was.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Ola Electric said an incident of arson had occurred at one of its brand stores in Kalaburagi and that the perpetrator had been identified, with a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against the individual.
"We at Ola highly condemn such unlawful acts, and will take all necessary legal measures to ensure that appropriate and strict actions are taken in this matter and such incidents are not repeated," the company said in the post.
The police officer, Sharanappa S.D, quantified the damage to the showroom to be worth 850,000 rupees ($10,128.81).
Ola Electric, which listed on stock exchanges last month, did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
Reuters was not able to reach Nadeem for a comment.
Ola has 431 service stations across India, according to its website.
($1 = 83.9190 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Varun Hebbalalu and Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Shreya Biswas)
