Coronavirus: Ola Emergency launches in Mumbai; rolled out in 15 cities across India
Ola Emergency will provide transport for medical trips to and from hospitals that are not related to coronavirus and do not require an ambulance.
Bengaluru-based ride-hailing unicorn Ola has rolled out ‘Ola Emergency’ in Mumbai, marking the service availability across 15 major Indian cities. The service is now available in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Vizag, Nashik, Varanasi, Indore, Bhopal, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Rourkela, and Bhubaneswar. It will enable citizens across the country to access essential medical care with minimum delay.
Through this initiative, Ola is providing transport services for all non-COVID medical trips such as scheduled check-ups, dialysis, and chemotherapy for immediate medical needs such as injuries, amongst others. The startup said it is bringing this service in partnership with various state governments ensuring all norms of social distancing and safety measures as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health.
Citizens across these cities can book a cab by selecting the ‘Ola Emergency’ category and entering the drop location from the list of available hospitals in the city, the company added in a release. The platform allows trips to be booked only from homes to hospitals and vice versa.
In Mumbai, Ola claims to have mapped over 200 hospitals on its app across the city. Customers will be charged a nominal fare to compensate driver partners for their services, the release said.
Anand Subramanian, Spokesperson, Ola said,
“The quality of cars, safety measures, and timeliness of the service has been welcomed by citizens and the authorities alike, further motivating us to double down on expanding the service to more cities amidst the extended lockdown. The service will also help provide an economic lifeline to many driver-partners whose incomes have taken a hit in the past few weeks.”
Earlier this week, Ola also opened up its technology platform to Governments to fight COVID-19 through ‘Ola CONNECTS’ (COmprehensive Navigation, NEtworking, Control and Tracking Solution).
This platform can be deployed as a turn-key solution or customised to specific requirements, to assist governments and its various agencies in managing 'Real-Time War Rooms' for various operations at scale, amidst the ongoing COVID crisis.
Ola is offering the CONNECTS platform and required development solutions free of cost to the government and its various agencies.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta