Ola and Uber
said they have resumed services in areas within orange and green zones, and
have introduced requirements like wearing masks to ensure safety of riders and
driver partners.
IMAGE: Heavy traffic jam in a red zone area in
Surat. Photograph: PTI Photo
Ride hailing platforms Ola
and Uber resumed services in areas like Gurugram, Kochi and Jamshedpur after
more than a month of lockdown, but users shied away and only a fraction of
drivers logged onto these platforms on day one.
Both players had suspended
operations after the government announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the
spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
After 40 days of lockdown,
some relaxations have been provided in the third phase of the lockdown,
including allowing cab services to operate with conditions in locations that
have very few or no confirmed cases reported.
According to a senior
industry executive, who did not wish to be named, user demand was minimal
across various cities as people stepped out only for essential travel.
The number of vehicles on
the road was also limited as a fraction of drivers logged onto work.
The executive noted that a
number of driver partners in large cities like Gurugram are from other states,
and many of them travelled back to their home states after the lockdown was
announced.
On a normal day of
business, the number of drivers working on the platform in the city would be
3X-4X of the numbers seen on Monday, he said.
So far, there have been no
reports of drivers facing issues with authorities.
Queries sent to Ola and
Uber seeking response on demand pattern did not elicit a response.
Another industry executive
said demand is expected to pick up in coming days as more people return to work
and businesses resume, and as more areas open up for services.
Ola and Uber, earlier in
the day, said they have resumed services in areas within orange and green
zones, and have introduced requirements like wearing masks to ensure safety of
riders and driver partners.
Ola said it has resumed
operations in over 100 cities across the country, while Uber's service is
available in 25 cities.
These include cities like
Cuttack, Guwahati, Daman, Jamshedpur, Kochi (green zone) as well as locations
like Amritsar, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Visakhapatnam (orange zone).
Taxi services have not been
allowed in red zones that includes cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and
Pune.
Ola said it will allow
rides only across identified safe zones and has put in place a selfie
authentication, besides asking driver-partners to ensure the cars are cleaned
and sanitised after each ride.
It has also brought in a
flexible cancellation policy under which both the customer and driver partner
can cancel the ride if they feel the other party is not following the rules or
not wearing a mask.
Only two passengers per
ride will be allowed in the cab, and the AC will be switched off and windows
will be kept open during all rides to avoid re-circulation of air, it added.
Apart from the cities where
it has resumed operations, Ola said it will also continue to offer Ola
Emergency -- a service introduced during the lockdown to ferry non-COVID-19
people to and from hospitals -- in 15 cities.
"As we reopen our
platform to millions of citizens for their commute and driver-partners whose
livelihoods are dependent on serving mobility needs, safety of both continues
to be the topmost priority for us," an Ola spokesperson said.
Uber, in a blogpost, said
it has started operating in 25 cities including Jamshedpur, Kochi, Cuttack and
Guwahati (green zone) as well as locations like Amritsar, Rohtak, Gurugram and
Visakhapatnam (orange zone).
"Our services remain
suspended in all cities which fall under the red zone. However, we'll continue
to serve our communities in this zone with Uber Essential and UberMedic,"
it said.
Uber Essential is available
in Bengaluru, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, Nashik, and Ludhiana.
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