Ola Consumer, the company behind Ola’s ride-hailing business, reported a sharp decline in FY25 as competition and slowing growth hit its core operations. The company’s revenue fell 42% year-on-year to ₹1,170.9 crore, while its standalone loss widened to ₹662.4 crore from ₹328.7 crore in FY24, reports Entrackr – citing recent Registrar of Companies (RoC) filings. Revenue from its main cab business also dropped nearly 47%, showing increasing pressure from rivals like Uber and Rapido. And despite cutting employee and driver-related costs during the year, Ola was unable to offset the steep fall in ride-booking income.
According to the filings, revenue from Ola’s mobility operations fell to around ₹925 crore in FY25 from about ₹1,761 crore in FY24. The company’s ‘sale of services’ segment, which includes ride commissions and convenience fees, also declined sharply to about ₹1,093 crore during the year. The numbers indicate that the slowdown was concentrated in Ola’s core ride-hailing business rather than its smaller adjacent services.
Meanwhile, the company attempted to reduce operating pressure through large-scale cost rationalisation measures. Employee benefit expenses fell around 39% to ₹205 crore from ₹334 crore in FY24, showing layoffs and tighter hiring controls across departments. Driver-related expenses also dropped about 34% year-on-year to ₹401 crore as Ola reduced incentives and optimised operational spending. However, the savings were insufficient to compensate for the collapse in revenue.
Importantly, even while reducing overall costs, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm significantly increased spending on marketing and promotions. Advertising and promotional expenses reportedly jumped more than 100% to over ₹233 crore in FY25, indicating aggressive customer acquisition and retention efforts amid intensifying competition. Technology investments also remained high despite widening losses. Ola spent over ₹303 crore on technology infrastructure and platform development during FY25.
The financial stress extended beyond the standalone business. Ola Consumer’s consolidated losses surged to almost ₹1,975 crore in FY25, compared with a profit in the previous year. A significant factor behind this reversal was the deduction in the valuation of Ola Electric shares held by the parent company, ANI Technologies. The company reportedly recorded a reduction exceeding ₹1,300 crore between August 2024 and March 2025.
The latest filings also drew attention because of delays in financial disclosures. Ola Consumer filed its FY25 financial statements several months after the statutory deadline, raising concerns around governance and transparency. Around the same period, the company’s long-time auditor S.R. Batliboi & Associates LLP, affiliated with EY India, exited after being associated with Ola for nearly a decade. The company later appointed SN Dhawan & Co. LLP as its new auditor.
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Ashutosh is a Senior Writer at The Tech Portal, largely reporting on new tech, and intersection of technology and business. Ashutosh’s career spans across nearly a decade of technology writing across multiple platforms and languages.
