Ola, one of the leading ride-sharing platform on Friday officially announced the launch of a new initiative under its social welfare wing, Ola Foundation. This new initiative is called ‘Drive The Driver Fund’, wherein the company will be offering support to auto-rickshaw, cab, kaali-peeli and taxi drivers through a contribution from the Ola group, investors and a citizen crowdfunding platform. The fund will focus towards the welfare and upliftment of drivers and their families that have been affected by the Covid- 19 pandemic during these unprecedented times. As the novel Coronavirus Pandemic has affected the entire nation resulting in a 21-day lockdown, the entire mobility sector has come to a standstill. And, the driver community has been facing a hard time to match with their family expenses without any source of income.
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Ola launches a new ‘Drive The Driver Fund’ initiative during Coronavirus Outbreak
This new initiative from Ola aims to bring the several stakeholders in the ecosystem including customers, investors and partner organisations to come forward and participate in this activity for supporting millions of drivers as well as their families. To battle against the deadly virus and initiating the support, the Ola group along with its employees will contribute ₹ 20 crore under this initiative. Moreover, Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola will also contribute personally by donating his one year salary towards the fund.
Under this ‘Drive The Driver Fund’ initiative, the company will focus on providing essential supplies as well as emergency support to the driver community during this challenging period. Additionally, the drivers and their families will also be given free medical consultation as a part of this initiative. Ola Foundation will also be taking necessary steps to provide aid for the children’s education.
Anand Subramanian, Spokesperson and Head of Communications, Ola said, “The crisis at this time has left thousands of drivers who form the backbone of shared mobility without an income. To support them in this testing time, we are launching the ‘Drive the Driver’ fund which will provide bare-necessities to all driver-partners, across auto-rickshaws and kaali peelis in the form of essential supplies and free medical and emergency support. To this effect, the Ola group has come together to contribute the initial capital for the fund, which can be used to provide immediate aid. Millions of drivers and their families have been affected, and even a humble contribution can have a lasting impact on their wellbeing. We invite all the stakeholders of the mobility industry to join us in every way you can, and support the people who move us in this difficult phase. We will be stronger together.”
Through the Coronavirus outbreak, Ola has undertaken several proactive measures to assist the driver-partners and customers. The company also introduced a special COVID-19 insurance cover exclusively for their driver-partners and their spouses. Apart from this, Ola entirely waived off the lease rentals and EMI for drivers operating vehicles under Ola’s leasing program.
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