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Responding to the allegation of a “hostile work culture” at Ola Electric, Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder and Group CEO, Ola, said Ola is a “hardworking” company and a place for people who are “ambitious”.

“We are a very hardworking company and we have a mission. We are not here to have a nice time,” said Bhavish, at a press conference to announce the launch of Ola Electric’s mass-market electric scooter.

According to media reports, employees of Ola Electric have spoken about their company’s work culture, calling it “hostile”. The reports also referred to some employees who had said that retention was a problem at the company and that some executives had decided not to join Ola Electric days after formally accepting employment offers.

YourStory has not independently verified these reports.

Comparing business creation to sports, Bhavish said, “Ola is a place for people who are truly ambitious, truly aspirational, and want to leave a legacy for themselves.” He said a sports environment was not a “nine to five environment” and “honestly that’s not the environment at Ola.”

Bhavish said that people who worked in Ola, would, years later, say that they were part of a revolution. “And that’s what our proposition is. Some of it works very well. And we have many of those examples, and we have some people who don’t end up liking our environment and we shake hands mutually in a respectful way. So that’s the common substance of our working style and our ambition.”

He went on to say, “We are not on a journey to make premium scooters or we’re not on a journey to $200 million of revenue. We want to fulfill our dreams and our mission. And I actually believe it’s not just about me or Ola. This is India’s moment in history to truly achieve what our potential is.”

Referring to the toil of previous generations, he said, “We are standing on the hard work of previous generations who have been through so much toil to provide our generation this opportunity to create the future and to create paradigms which the world will follow. And that’s what drives me personally. And that’s what drives Ola and the right kind of people resonate with that.”