Ola Electric is doing a recall under the cloak of an upgrade

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Editor's note: The last few days have been very hectic at Ola Electric. The top brass has been locked inside boardrooms in meetings. The key agenda is the customer perception of the company. Chief financial officer G.R. Arun Kumar is calling people in the sales team to check if the sentiment around the company has improved after this week’s move to assuage concerns over faulty front forks on Ola scooters. (We had reported the suspension failures a month ago. Read: “Why Ola Electric scooters continue to break”.) On Tuesday afternoon, the company announced that it is giving existing customers of its S1 range of scooters an “option” to “upgrade” their front forks for free. The appointment window will open on 22 March.  First of all, let’s call this what it is. It is not an upgrade. You upgrade your economy class seat to business class for added comfort. Or your hatchback to a sedan for a touch of convenience. You upgrade your Maybach to a Phantom Coupe for luxury. And the software of your phones and laptops so you can get bug …