New Delhi, Sept. 16 -- Ola Electric Mobility Ltd's payments to Krutrim SI Designs Pvt., an AI company owned by its chairman, Bhavish Aggarwal, nearly quadrupled to Rs.100 crore last year, prompting concerns from governance experts about related-party deals.

The payments comprised Rs.54 crore for services purchased from Krutrim, up from Rs.26 crore a year earlier, and a first-of-its-kind Rs.46 crore advance for services that had been ordered but not yet invoiced as of 31 March, according to Ola Electric's annual related-party disclosures and a company spokesperson.

The transactions are not necessarily a compliance issue, but their size and the overlap between the boards of the two companies raise questions about how independently such pa...