Ola to provide safety equipment, assures regular fumigation of vehicles

In a bid to ensure that people do not turn away from ride-hailing services, Ola has taken a number of steps to boost customer confidence and the latest in a list of measures include providing driver-partners with safety equipment and ensuring every single vehicle is fumigated every 48 hours.

In a press statement issued on Thursday, Ola informed that driver-partners are being provided safety equipment like masks, sanitizers and disinfectant liquids. They are also being regularly provided with training in best practices that promote and ensure safety and hygiene.

Common touch points like door handles and window buttons are special focus areas when it comes to cleaning the vehicle while Ola claims that these vehicles have to go in for fumigation every 48 hours at its more than 500 centers across the country.

While customers too are expected to take every possible precaution, Ola says it is using its proprietary selfie-authentication technology to ensure driver-partners wear masks at all times while serving on the platform. A plastic sheet is also being provided to them so that they can enclose the driving section of the vehicle.

These initiatives are a part of Ola's Ride Safe India' initiative.

Recent weeks have dealt a severe blow to ride-hailing services that are provided by companies like Ola and Uber, in India and across the world. While Ola has committed Ola ₹500 crore over 1 year to make rides safer, it was reported in May that it also plans to layoff 1,400 employees. It has been tough going for Uber as well. The company has cut thousands of jobs across the world even as it has said that $19 million has been spent as part of assistance given to drivers.

With lockdown restrictions easing, the worst may be over but the return to bright pre-Covid-19 days appears only in the distant future.