With the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) easing restrictions in select zones across the country, Ola today announced a new safety initiative, ‘10 Steps to a Safer Ride’, as operations resume in over 100 cities which are in green and orange zones.
Ola has mandated driver-partners and customers to follow five precautionary steps each, encouraging them to practice social distancing, sanitization measures and personal hygiene etiquette at all times.
For driver-partners
Vehicles will not operate to and from government-identified red or containment zones. All driver-partners are required to wear masks and need to authenticate this before the start of every ride by sharing a selfie through their partner app. Driver-partners will be provided with masks, sanitizers and disinfectants and can avail these at all walk-in centres across their cities.
Common surfaces like the handle, inner handle and seat to be cleaned before every ride. Drivers and customers are being given the option of cancelling a ride if the other is not wearing a mask to ensure their own safety as well that of subsequent users.
For customers
All customers boarding the cab need to wear masks and should sanitise before and after every ride. To avoid re-circulation of air, the AC will be switched off and windows will be kept open during all rides. Only two passengers per ride will be allowed in the cab. They will also be urged to sit by the windows on the rear of the car. To help maintain social distancing, customers are urged to load and unload luggage themselves. Customers are encouraged to make cashless payments for the rides to avoid any unnecessary contact.
“We thank the Central government for recognising the importance of mobility in these difficult times. As we reopen our platform to millions of citizens for their commute and driver-partners whose livelihoods are dependent on serving mobility needs, the safety of both continues to be the topmost priority for us. Our fight against Covid-19 is a collective effort, and will be possible only with both our driver-partners and customers doing their bit to ensure that everyone has access to safe and high-quality mobility,” said Anand Subramanian, spokesperson and Head of Communications, Ola.
Starting today, operations will be launched in a phased manner across these cities. Ola emergency services across 15 cities continue to operate as per its existing protocol exclusively for trips to and from hospitals.