While ride-hailing service Ola had been in the news at the start of the year due to layoffs, the company's electric mobility arm, Ola Electric, has now made the headlines thanks to its latest hire—a dog.
Named 'Bijlee', meaning electricity (an obvious reference to the company's EV business), the dog has been formally hired by the company, and even has her own employee ID card.
News of Bijlee's hiring by Ola Electric was shared by company founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, who shared a photo of the dog's ID card with the caption "New colleague now officially!" on X (formerly Twitter).
New colleague now officially! pic.twitter.com/dFtGMsOFVX
— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) July 30, 2023
A close inspection of the ID card given to Bijlee reveals several references to Ola Electric and its business.
Bijlee's employee code—440V—appears to be a reference to the standard voltage in electrical tranformers, while her blood group—'paw+ve'—appears to be a reference to electrical charges, as well as a playful pun on the word 'paw'.
While the ID card mentions that Bijlee's preferred mode of contact is Slack, a messaging service commonly used in workplaces, what is interesting is that it lists Bijlee's emergency contact as 'BA's office', which could indicate that Bijlee is close with Bhavish Aggarwal himself.
The photo of Bijlee's ID card also reveals that she's part of the workforce of Ola Electric's office in Koramangala, Bengaluru.
Perhaps expectedly, Aggarwal's tweet revealing Ola Electric's latest employee was received warmly on the internet, with many users appreciating the gesture.
"Awesome Pawesome!," commented one user on Aggarwal's post, while another quipped, "This is Bijlee's world, we are all just living in it."
However, the photo of Bijlee's employee ID card wasn't enough to win over disgruntled customers, many of whom commented on the post, demanding quick deliveries of their pending orders.