Ride-hailing cab aggregators Uber and Ola recently released their COVID-19 guidelines in India to protect both drivers and passengers amid the pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown.
Uber is requiring all drivers, delivery workers and riders to wear face masks and require that vehicles be sanitised after every ride as the company returns to Indian roads amid easing restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Uber drivers will also be required to click and a submit a selfie of them wearing a mask to start the ride.
The Centre on Sunday, 17 May, released new guidelines for the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, which did not name any ride-hailing services under the list of prohibited activities. This indicated that the decision to allow these platforms to operate was left to the state government.
Both cab aggregators have also capped the number of passengers in their cars to two, both only in the rear passenger seat. Uber is also offering passengers and drivers the option to cancel the ride without any penalty if they do not feel safe or if either party is refusing to adhere to the new COVID-I9 guidelines.
Repeated failure to comply with the requirement can lead to account deactivation for both riders and drivers, the executive said.
Ola and Uber will provide necessary safety kits like masks, sanitisers, disinfectants, etc to its driver-partners. They are required to sanitize their cars after every trip using the supplies.
The ride-sharing service “Uber-Pool” on the Uber platform will also remain suspended.
Air-conditioners in cars will also be turned off to prevent air-circulation between the passenger and the driver. Some states like Karnataka have also mandated drivers to install panels or isolators to separate passengers from the driver. No passenger will be allowed to sit in the co-drivers seat in front.
This model of separating passengers and driver comes from Dubai and has also been used in some cities in China.
Where are Ola and Uber Services Operating Right Now?
After the new guidelines under the phase 4 of the nationwide lockdown, Uber services are available in the following cities-
- Amritsar
- Asansol
- Bengaluru
- Chandigarh
- Coimbatore
- Cuttack
- Daman
- Delhi
- Durgapur
- Faridabad
- Ghaziabad
- Gurgaon
- Guwahati
- Hubli
- Jalandhar
- Kochi
- Kozhikode
- Ludhiana
- Mangalore
- Mehsana
- Mohali
- Mysore
- Panchkula
- Patiala
- Prayagraj
- Rohtak
- Silvassa
- Sonipat
- Thiruvananthapuram
- Thrissur
- Tiruchirapalli
- Udaipur
- Vapi
- Visakhapatnam
In addition Uber also stated that “Uber Essentials”, which is the platforms delivery service for essential items, is available in Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, and Nashik through the Uber app.
Ola said driver-partners operating three and four-wheelers on the platform will be available in the states of Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu (except Chennai), Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Assam.
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