New Delhi, Jul 8 (IANS): Ride-hailing platform Ola has started laying off employees, as many as 500 from its nearly 1,100-strong workforce, across verticals as it aims to cut costs amid a challenging funding environment.

The SoftBank-backed company has also deferred appraisals as it aims at "leaner and consolidated teams" to keep its "strong profitability intact," according to sources.

In an internal communication on communication platform Slack, as first seen by The Economic Times, Balachandar N., who is Chief of HR said that "we understand the anxiousness around Driven (Ola's appraisal programme)".

"As you would know by now, we are working on the restructuring of some of our businesses and will follow it up with Driven," read the internal communication.

The layoffs begin as Shikharr Sood, the head of Ola's Talent Acquisition, and in charge of talent acquisition for the entire Ola Group, has put in his papers.

His resignation comes amid several resignations by top executives.

Several former executives said that "product complaints, unit closures and 'act fast, think later' culture has led to recent Ola troubles", reports CNBC.

Last month, Ola shut down its used vehicle business Ola Cars as well as Ola Dash, its quick-commerce business.

The company shut Ola Cars within one year of its launch, as it focuses on its electric two-wheeler and electric car verticals.

Ola has so far shut down Ola Cafe, food panda, Ola Foods, and now Ola Dash.

Meanwhile, Ola Electric, facing a government probe into battery fires along with other EV players, has also seen some high-profile exits in recent months.

Earlier this week, Yashwant Kumar, Senior Director and Business Head for Charging Networks at the company, decided to move on.