Lockdown 4.0: Ola resumes airport operations in 22 cities with enhanced safety protocols

As domestic air travel resumes across the country, Ola has resumed its services across 22 airports with enhanced safety protocols. In Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, Ola will place specially trained staff to perform car fumigation, temperature checks for driver-partners, and a car audit before every pick-up so customers can have peace of mind before they step into the car.

Across all other cities, Ola will be regularly sanitising cars and monitoring the driver’s health status as part of its '10 steps to a safer ride' initiative.

Anand Subramanian, Spokesperson at Ola said, "With the resumption of domestic flight operations in India, we look forward to serving citizens who need a safe and reliable option for Airport trips. The safety of both passengers and driver-partners continues to be a top priority for us and we are committed to following the highest standards of safety and hygiene. We are also working closely with Airport authorities across different cities to ensure strict adherence to guidelines while ensuring customers and drivers aren't inconvenienced. By adopting a collaborative approach to flatten the curve, our '10 steps to a safer ride' guidelines for customers and driver partners will ensure that Ola remains the safest ride for Airport trips."

Citizens across the following cities can book an Ola for their Airport trips: Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Madurai, Mangalore, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Varanasi, and Vishakhapatnam.

Complying with government regulations, Ola’s services are now available across 175+ Indian cities across categories providing citizens with mobility solutions to suit their varied needs. The complete list of cities where Ola is operational can be found here. (https://blog.olacabs.com/know-where-ola-is-resuming-its-services/)  Please note that this list will be regularly updated.

How safe are they?

As part of its '10 steps to a safer ride' initiative' Ola has issued 5 precautionary steps each, for driver-partners and customers, encouraging them to follow sanitary measures and practice personal hygiene etiquette at all times. The protocols have been divided as follows:

For Driver-partners:

1. No travel of Ola cabs in containment zones: Ola cabs will not operate to and from Government identified zones.
2. Selfie-authentication of drivers: All driver-partners are required to wear masks and will need to authenticate this before the start of every ride by sharing a selfie through the driver-partner app.
3. Equipped with hygiene kits: Driver-partners will be provided with masks, sanitizers and disinfectants.
4. Cars to be cleaned regularly: All cars will be disinfected before and after every ride.
5. Flexible cancellations: As a strong measure, driver-partners and customers have been given the option of cancelling the ride if the other is not wearing a mask to ensure not only their safety but also that of those availing the service after.

For Customers:

1. Wearing of masks is compulsory: All customers need to wear masks and should sanitize before and after every ride. 
2. AC to be switched off: To avoid re-circulation of air, the AC will be switched off and windows will be kept open.
3. 2 passengers per car: Only two passengers apart from the driver-partner will be allowed in the cab per ride.
4. Load and unload luggage themselves: To help maintain social distancing, customers are urged to load and unload luggage themselves.
5. Cashless payments: Customers are encouraged to go cashless to avoid unnecessary contact.

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