Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has once again ignited a heated debate on social media, asking why the dollar symbol ($) on computer and laptop keyboards was not replaced with the rupee symbol (₹) in India. Mr Aggarwal's suggestion, in a post on X, has received a barrage of criticism from the internet.
The OLA founder questioned why the financial world still used "INR" (Indian Rupee) instead of the rupee symbol (₹).
In a subsequent post, Mr Aggarwal shared a picture of a keyboard with the dollar symbol highlighted. “Maybe this has something to do with it! Wonder why the $ is not replaced with ₹ in products sold in India,” he wrote on X.
However, many users pointed out the importance of the dollar symbol in international transactions and coding.
“The '$' is also an important character in programming languages, such as perl,” a user commented under his post.
Another user highlighted the practical implications of replacing the dollar symbol, saying, "Only a person who works on MS Excel knows the answer. $ is used to freeze Row or column in excel formulas and ₹ can't do that. That's why $ is used universally for that purpose."
Several users also questioned Mr Aggarwal's understanding of technical issues, with one commenting, "Bhavish, I recommend you ask the software engineers in your company rather than Twitter!"
Another user mocked Aggarwal's suggestion, asking, "Does OlaKrutrim's tech team use ₹ instead of $ in their programming code? Anyhow, all that hollow bluster for what?"
After the post went viral with over 2 million views, Bhavish Aggarwal, in a follow-up post, shared images of keyboards from various countries, including Germany, to illustrate his point that many nations have their currency symbols on keyboards.
He argued that India should follow suit and make the rupee symbol a standard feature on all keyboards sold in the country. “So many countries have their currency symbol on keyboards,” he wrote. “Many have custom keyboards based on their language. Except India. Only few manufacturers add the ₹ symbol. ALL should.”
This post met a fresh wave of backlash.
A user commented, “Bro, are you making electric scooters or keyboards? Ola electric customers are crying for better post-sales service and here you are getting fun out of unnecessary things.”
Another user joked, "Ola keyboard coming soon?"
An observer pointed out, "In all those keyboards $ isn't replaced by their currency symbol as you said in your previous tweet. $ still exists in their keyboards, while their currency symbol is an additional feature and not a replacement for $."
Earlier, the OLA CEO sparked a debate with his suggestion that young professionals should wear kurtas to work.