Ride-hailing giant Ola on Tuesday announced the launch of Ola Emergency services in Gurugram. The services, that were earlier launched in Bengaluru, Vizag, Bhubaneshwar, Nashik, and Varanasi, is aimed at providing essential medical trips for people who need to access a hospital for medical purposes. Ola has partnered with the Government of Haryana to provide the service to the residents of Gurugram.

As per the statement issued by Ola, specially trained drivers with a dedicated network of cars that are equipped with masks and sanitizer have been chosen for the emergency services. The company reiterates that the emergency services are solely for medical purposes and it need not be COVID-19 related.

Talking about the emergency services, Anand Subramanian, spokesperson, and Head of Communications, Ola, said in a statement, "Trips to hospitals for medical urgencies are unavoidable, even in the current times. With Ola Emergency, we are able to facilitate trips to and from hospitals across the city through the Ola app. We are grateful to the Haryana Government for the opportunity to collaborate in serving the citizens. With over 100+ Hospitals in the city mapped, 'Ola Emergency' will be available 24x7 and will provide citizens with a reliable, convenient and safe transport solution for medical trips that do not require an ambulance."

"Ola is facilitating a clean and safe ride experience by ensuring that all registered driver-partners on the network are trained to follow proper sanitary measures, including wearing masks and frequent usage of hand sanitizers that cars have been equipped with. We will continue to work closely with various State Governments to ensure that people across cities can avail this service to access essential medical care," he added.

Here's what you can do to avail the services

Since this feature is being made available for the residents of Gurugram, they can check for a new category on the app called the Ola Emergency.

Once the user has selected the new category, they can enter the drop location from a list of available hospitals in the city. Ola has said that it has mapped over 100 hospitals to the app. This has been done to ensure that the trips are taken for medical purposes only. You can book the cab from your home to the hospital and vice versa.

The services should be availed for non-COVID purposes only and for the illnesses that don't require an ambulance. The customers will be charged according to the standard rate card issued by the company

Ola's competitor Uber already offers similar services in Gurugram and Mumbai.