Top 6 EV Scooter Brands in India 2026 — Sales vs Complaints: What Owners Really Say
Every brand publishes its sales numbers. No brand publishes its complaint numbers. We put the two side by side — May 2026 registrations against what owners are actually writing on consumer forums and social media — because today's complaint board is tomorrow's sales chart.
By Kunwer Sachdev · 4 June 2026 · 14 min read
A 2026 electric scooter on the showroom floor. The brochure tells you the range. It never tells you how long the brand's service queue is. Photo: Kunwer Sachdev.
India bought 1,70,570 electric two-wheelers in May 2026 — up 63% over May 2025 and the second-highest month ever. The market is booming. But the ranking inside that boom has quietly turned upside down: the brand that ruled 2023 is now fifth, and the brands that were "boring" two years ago are first and second.
Why? The answer is not in any spec sheet. It is in the complaint boards.
✍️ Kunwer Sachdev — in my own words
Sales charts tell you what happened last month. Complaint boards tell you what will happen next year. I have watched this for thirty years in the inverter industry — the brand that ignores its service queue today is signing its own sales decline for tomorrow. So before writing this comparison, I did not start with the brochures. I started with what owners are saying on social media and consumer forums, because that is the real reflection of a brand — and sooner or later it shows up in the sales numbers.
The Sales Table — May 2026 Registrations
#
Brand
May 2026 Units
Market Share
YoY Growth
Trend
1
TVS iQube
42,415
~25%
+64%
Leader, steady
2
Bajaj Chetak
39,104
~23%
+13% MoM
Closing on TVS
3
Ather (450X / Rizta)
28,211
~17%
+100%
Doubled YoY
4
Hero Vida (VX2 / V2)
19,051
~11%
+158%
Fastest growth
5
Ola Electric (S1)
15,000+
~9%
+22% MoM
Recovering from collapse
6
Honda (Activa e: / QC1)
—
New entrant
—
Building swap network
Source: VAHAN registration data as reported by industry trackers, May 2026. Ola's figure crossed 15,000 units; Honda's EV volumes are still small as its e:Swap network rolls out city by city.
Remember: in calendar 2023, Ola Electric held roughly half this market. In May 2026 it holds about 9%. Nothing in Ola's spec sheet changed for the worse — its scooters still post the biggest battery and longest range numbers in the segment. What changed is what owners were telling each other.
The Complaint Scoreboard — What No Brand Publishes
We looked at two kinds of evidence. First, the quantifiable record: complaint counts on consumercomplaints.in (India's largest public grievance forum) and the official National Consumer Helpline numbers. Second, the qualitative themes: what owners repeatedly write on Reddit, X and Facebook owner groups — not one angry post, but patterns.
Brand
consumercomplaints.in
Official / Govt Record
Dominant Complaint Themes (Social Media + Forums)
Ola Electric
161 complaints — ranked in the top 20 most-complained-about companies in the entire Motorcycles & Scooters category
10,644 complaints to the National Consumer Helpline in 12 months (Sep 2023–Aug 2024) → CCPA show-cause notice, Oct 2024
Scooters stuck at service centres for 1–3 months; spare parts (VCU, BMS board) unavailable for months; sudden battery-percentage drops; warranty top-up disputes; customer care unreachable
TVS iQube
Complaints filed under TVS Motor Company (5,300+ for all TVS vehicles, EV and petrol combined)
No EV-specific regulatory action
Real-world range below claimed figure; booking-refund delays; occasional spare-part waits — but 4,000+ service touchpoints keep resolution times short
Bajaj Chetak
Complaints filed under Bajaj Auto (#5 most-complained in the category — all vehicles combined)
No EV-specific regulatory action
Delivery delays in some cities; range discrepancy vs claim; otherwise comparatively muted online — the legacy dealer network absorbs problems quietly
Ather
Just 4 complaints — ranked #81–100 in the category
None
Product reliability is consistently praised; complaints are about process, not product — RC/registration document delays, slow spare-part shipping, dashboard software niggles
Hero Vida
Negligible EV-specific record (newer, smaller base)
None
Owners praise removable batteries and charging flexibility; watch-points raised are BaaS fine print and a young service network — Hero's dealer reach is the safety net
Honda
Too new for a meaningful record
None
The recurring owner concern is dependence: Activa e: batteries can only be swapped at Honda stations — if the network is thin in your city, the scooter is not practical yet
Read the numbers honestly
Two caveats before anyone shouts. TVS and Bajaj complaint counts cover their entire vehicle business — petrol and electric — because that is how the forum files them; Ola and Ather are EV-only companies, so their counts map directly to scooters. And complaint platforms are self-selected: happy owners don't post. What matters is not the absolute number but the ratio to units sold and the pattern of themes — and on both, the gap between the best and worst brand is enormous.
The Ola Case Study — Complaints Today, Sales Tomorrow
Put the two tables together and the story writes itself:
2023: Ola is market leader with roughly half of all EV scooter sales. Service complaints begin piling up on X and Reddit — scooters waiting weeks for parts.
Sep 2023 – Aug 2024: 10,644 complaints reach the National Consumer Helpline — about 29 every single day. The top three categories: service delays (3,389), delivery delays (1,899), promised services not provided (1,459).
Oct 2024: The CCPA issues a show-cause notice for alleged consumer-rights violations and unfair trade practices. The complaint story is now national news.
May 2025: ICRA downgrades Ola Electric's credit rating, citing the slump in two-wheeler sales.
May 2026: Ola is fifth, at ~9% share — behind two legacy giants, one low-complaint startup, and Hero.
Meanwhile Ather — with four complaints on the same public forum — doubled its sales year-on-year. Owners told each other the scooter just works, and the service experience, while not perfect, doesn't strand you. That word-of-mouth is worth more than any advertisement the company could buy.
The complaint board is a leading indicator. The sales chart is a lagging one. By the time a brand's decline shows in registrations, its owners had been warning everyone for a year.
✍️ Kunwer Sachdev — in my own words
No spec sheet can hide poor service. A scooter that sits in a service centre for three months waiting for one BMS board is not an engineering failure — it is a parts-planning failure, and it tells you how the company thinks about you after it has your money. When you buy an electric scooter you are not just buying the vehicle; you are buying the company's service network for the next eight years. Judge that network by what existing owners write, not by what the brand promises.
The Top 6, Brand by Brand — Prices, Batteries, Warranties
All prices ex-showroom, June 2026, and vary by city and offers — verify locally before booking. Ranges are IDC (lab) figures; expect 25–35% less in real riding.
#1 TVS iQube — the quiet leader
Variant
Battery
Claimed Range
Price (ex-showroom)
Battery Warranty
iQube 2.2
2.2 kWh
~94 km
₹1,13,245
3 yr / 30,000 km
iQube 3.1 / 3.5 / S
3.1–3.5 kWh
117–145 km
₹1.2–1.45 lakh
3 yr / 50,000 km
iQube ST 5.3
5.3 kWh
~212 km
₹1,71,348
3 yr / 50,000 km
Why it leads: nothing spectacular, everything dependable — and 4,000+ service touchpoints, the widest in the segment. TVS also offers a battery-as-a-service plan from ₹59,999 plus ₹1,202/month with unlimited kilometres. Owner sentiment: range-versus-claim grumbles are the most common complaint; catastrophic failures are rare, and there's always a service centre nearby.
#2 Bajaj Chetak — the metal-bodied tank
Variant
Battery
Claimed Range
Price (ex-showroom)
Battery Warranty
Chetak 3001
3.0 kWh
127 km
₹99,900
3 yr / 50,000 km
Chetak 3503
3.5 kWh
151 km
₹1,02,500
5 yr / 70,000 km
Chetak 3502
3.5 kWh
153 km
₹1,22,499
3 yr / 50,000 km
Why it's #2: the best price-to-warranty equation in the market — the 3503 gives a 5-year/70,000 km battery warranty at just over a lakh. Owner sentiment: the calmest complaint profile among the volume sellers; what noise exists is about delivery timelines and real-world range, not breakdowns.
#3 Ather — the engineer's scooter
Variant
Battery
Claimed Range
Price (ex-showroom)
Battery Warranty
Rizta (2.9 kWh)
2.9 kWh
123 km
₹1.09 lakh
5 yr comprehensive
Rizta (3.7 kWh)
3.7 kWh
160 km
up to ₹1.44 lakh
5 yr comprehensive
450X
3.7 kWh
161 km
~₹1.51 lakh
5 yr comprehensive
Why it's the dark horse: 4 complaints on India's biggest grievance forum, against 28,211 scooters sold in May alone. Owners describe predictable range readouts and a scooter that "just keeps running." The complaints that do exist are paperwork and parts-shipping delays — annoying, not stranding. This is what a low-complaint brand looks like, and the doubled sales are the reward.
#4 Hero Vida — the removable-battery play
Variant
Battery
Claimed Range
Price (ex-showroom)
Battery Warranty
VX2 Go
2.2 kWh (1 removable pack)
92 km
₹99,490 (intro ~₹85,000)
5 yr / 50,000 km
VX2 Plus
3.4 kWh (2 removable packs)
142 km
₹1.10 lakh
5 yr / 50,000 km
VX2 with BaaS
battery leased, pay ~₹0.9/km
—
from ~₹45,000 (intro)
Free replacement below 70% health
Removable packs on charge at home — the feature driving Vida's 158% growth. Photo: Kunwer Sachdev.
Why it's growing fastest (+158%): the removable packs solve the apartment-charging problem — carry the battery to your flat like a briefcase. The BaaS option halves the upfront price by separating the battery cost. Owner sentiment: early and largely positive; the thing to read carefully is the BaaS contract — when the battery is leased, the battery-health clause and per-km billing define your real cost of ownership.
#5 Ola Electric — biggest numbers, biggest lesson
Variant
Battery
Claimed Range
Price (ex-showroom)
Battery Warranty
S1 Pro Gen 3 (3 kWh)
3 kWh
176 km
~₹1.15–1.30 lakh
3 yr / 50,000 km base
S1 Pro Gen 3 (4 kWh)
4 kWh
242 km
~₹1.35–1.45 lakh
Top-up to 8 yr / 125,000 km (~₹14,999), replacement below 70% health
The paradox: on paper, Ola gives you the most battery and the most range per rupee in the segment, plus the longest extendable warranty. The May 2026 numbers (+22% month-on-month) suggest a recovery attempt. But the complaint record above is why a spec-sheet victory turned into a market defeat — and why we tell readers to weight the service queue as heavily as the range figure.
The bet: you never charge — you swap a drained pack for a full one in under two minutes. The catch owners flag: the Activa e: cannot be charged at home at all; if the swap network is thin in your city, you've bought a scooter that depends entirely on Honda's infrastructure build-out. The QC1 at ₹90,000 is the conventional, safer pick.
On the showroom floor, every scooter looks ready. The complaint boards tell you which one stays on the road. Photo: Kunwer Sachdev.
What This Means for Your Money
Maximum peace of mind: TVS iQube — the service network is the spec that matters most after year one.
Best warranty per rupee: Bajaj Chetak 3503 — 5 years/70,000 km at ₹1.02 lakh.
Lowest complaint record: Ather — pay the premium, buy the silence.
Apartment dwellers: Hero Vida VX2 — removable packs end the charging-point problem.
Spec maximalist who accepts the service risk: Ola S1 Pro 4 kWh — and buy the 8-year warranty top-up on day one.
Wait and watch: Honda Activa e: — until the swap network is dense in your city.
Which electric scooter brand sells the most in India in 2026?
TVS leads with 42,415 iQube registrations in May 2026 (~25% share), with Bajaj Chetak close behind at 39,104. Ather, Hero Vida and Ola Electric complete the top five; Honda is the new entrant building its swap network.
Which EV scooter brand has the most complaints?
Ola Electric, by a wide margin on every public record: 161 complaints on consumercomplaints.in (top-20 rank in the entire two-wheeler category) and 10,644 complaints to the National Consumer Helpline in a single year, which triggered a CCPA show-cause notice in October 2024. Ather has 4 complaints on the same forum.
Do complaints really predict sales?
Ola's complaint surge preceded its fall from ~50% market share to ~9% by about 12–18 months, while low-complaint Ather doubled sales in the same period. One case is not a law, but the mechanism is simple: unhappy owners warn buyers in their network, and EV buyers research online more than any vehicle buyers before them.
Is battery-as-a-service (BaaS) worth it?
It halves your upfront cost (Vida VX2 from ~₹45,000; TVS from ₹59,999) but the battery is leased, not owned. Read the per-km billing, minimum monthly charges, and the battery-health clause before signing — the contract, not the scooter, determines your real cost.
Kunwer Sachdev
Founder of Su-Kam and Kunwwer.ai, and mentor at Su-vastika and several other companies — the “Inverter Man of India.” Read his story →
Disclaimer: This article is written by Kunwer Sachdev, mentor of Su-vastika. Kunwer Sachdev is no longer associated with Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd. in any capacity. Anyone dealing with Su-kam should be aware that Kunwer Sachdev has no association with the Su-Kam brand or company.
Sales figures are from public VAHAN registration data as reported by industry publications; complaint figures are from public consumer forums and government records as of June 2026 and change over time. Complaint themes are summaries of publicly posted owner experiences, not verified individual claims. Prices are indicative ex-showroom figures — confirm with dealers.
By Kunwer Sachdev · 4 June 2026 · 14 min read
