Ride-hailing, e-commerce brands lend a hand in combating Coronavirus

With their combination of freight and logistics knowhow, and a large number of vehicles and competent drivers, online services are just what distressed emergency workers need

With the implementation of the 21-day lockdown, the government has allowed only members involved in essential services like healthcare, banking and news media to commute. Additionally, there is a total lockdown on any kind of travel, within or between cities. At this time, e-commerce, logistics and ride-hailing firms are putting in place several measures to ramp up capacity to deliver essentials to customers.

First on the list is ride-hailing brand Uber, set to launch a new service, UberMedic. This will help transport frontline healthcare workers to medical facilities and other critical areas across India. In doing so, hospitals can easily and reliably arrange transportation for doctors and other health workers to and from their homes. And keeping the safety of drivers in mind, partner hospitals will also provide drivers with government-mandated protective equipment, like hand sanitisers, disinfectant sprays, gloves, and face masks.

Now, where Uber is concerned, will its chief rival Ola be far behind? The brand has already started working with Karnataka government, which Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced in a tweet.

Thank you Sir! We‘re humbled to join hands with GoK and other state Governments in offering all support we can in these times. @Olacabs driver-partners and @Olafoods_India kitchen staff are proud to join various essential service providers in #IndiafightsCorona #StrongerTogether https://t.co/KYqCNCOyBI
— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) March 30, 2020

Further, the brand is in talks with other states and the Centre to extend its transportation services to help facilitate the transit of healthcare professionals, senior citizens, government officials and quick response teams who need mobility options

Other essential services

E-commerce and logistics firms are also doing their bit to ensure smooth functioning in this time of distress. This includes procuring permissions to stock food at their warehouses, use railway freight to move goods and engage cabs to enable last-mile deliveries. Companies including Flipkart, Amazon, Delhivery and Uber have announced plans to ramp up the availability of essential items across the country. In fact, Flipkart has already taken requisite permissions for around 125 fulfilment centres and hubs to stock essential items such as packaged foods.

Further, Ola has also offered to prepare food from its cloud kitchens (over 40 in six cities) and transportation of the food to major nodal centres for the government to supply to medical professionals, daily wagers, migrant labourers, and security teams on the ground.

These efforts go to prove that in trying times, the best way ahead is maximising coordination among ourselves. We at evo India urge you to follow the proper sanitary protocol, stay indoors, be positive, and follow our YouTube page for your daily dose of the Thrill Of Driving.

Ola Cabs