One of the prominent cab-hailing services in India, Ola Cabs, has launched a self-drive service in Bangalore, India — a reprisal of Ola Drive as a result of the pandemic and social distancing norms.
Users will be able to hire cars from Ola’s fleet and drive it themselves, instead of a chauffeur-driven ride that the company offers on normal days.
Currently, the service will only be available in Bangalore. Users can pick and drop off the cars at the company’s stations, which will operate between 6 am and 8 pm regularly.
“The health and safety of our customer amid COVID-19 is of paramount importance to us. We have undertaken all reasonable efforts to ensure that our executives comply with applicable health and safety advisories issued by the Government in this regard,” Ola Cabs announced.
The company says that the cars are vacuumed, fumigated and disinfected and temperature checks are also conducted at their pick-up stations, which are sanitised too. Delivery executives at the station have also been directed to wear masks and follow social distancing norms.
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“To ensure your safety, we urge you to follow the guidelines and best practices issued by the Government before booking a ride with us. If you feel uncomfortable in booking Ola Drive at any point, you may cancel the ride through the Ola app.”
“Our network of fumigation centres will help ensure strict adherence to vehicle fumigation, and while enabling our driver-partners with safety equipment such as sanitizers, disinfectants and masks. All Ola vehicles will also comply with social distancing measures with the use of PVC screens between the driver and passenger seats,” said Anand Subramanian, Spokesperson for Ola last week, talking about the vehicle safety standards being implemented at the company.
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