Ola announced the launch of Ola Emergency on its app to enable essential medical trips on its platform in collaboration with the Karnataka's Department of Health.
It is available in Bengaluru starting Tuesday with a network of cars that are equipped with masks and sanitisers and will be operated by specially trained drivers, the ride hailing company said.
Similarly, Uber will also provide emergency services, said a government official. B Sriramulu, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Karnataka government, said "The government has noticed that people who are not infected are inconvenienced by the lack of public vehicles to go to the hospital for treatment. To provide service in such an emergency Ola and Uber have launched their services in Bangalore today."
"For this emergency service call 9154153917/18/19 or use the Uber or Ola Mobile App. This facility is limited to the city of Bangalore and I request the citizens to make use of it," he added.
To book such a cab, citizens can select the category Enabled for Hospitals on their Ola app, and enter the drop location from a list of available hospitals in the city, it said in a statement.
"In collaboration with the Government of Karnataka, we are launching ‘Ola Emergency’ to take citizens to and from certain identified hospitals in Bangalore. For emergency hospital travel, we’ve got your back. A big thank you to everyone who made it happen," Ola said.
Ola has enabled over 200 hospitals on its app to provide the service and ensure cabs are used only for essential medical travel. The service will be available across Bengaluru and is slated to soon launch in other major cities, the company said.
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