Uber announced yesterday, that it will restart limited service in five Indian cities to start with, for essential travel. The service, christened ‘Uber Essential’, is being made live in Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Nashik and Hyderabad. Uber says that it has partnered with local administrations in each of these cities to restart service.
“We understand the need for essential travel, especially given the significant drop in public transportation options, to access critical places like hospitals, pharmacies etc.”, Uber said in a prepared statement.
This ‘Uber Essential’ service is pretty much similar to the ‘Uber Medic‘ service that the company announced to transport frontline medical workers. To avail ‘Uber Essential’, all riders are mandated to carry relevant documentation to validate their purpose of travel to authorities.
In terms of protections in place, all drivers who are a part of this service, have been specially trained and issued curfew passes to ensure seamless movement. Uber Essential riders will also receive reminders through in-app messages and emails about basic steps they can take to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Uber Essential riders in Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Nashik, Mumbai and Hyderabad can open the app to check the availability of the service in their area and accessible locations nearby. The App has been designed to facilitate urgent travel needs to essential service areas only. The company has given a full list of serviceable locations in these five cities, here.
April 20th (i.e. today) is the day when India is opening up its month-long coronavirus lockdown in a phased manner, across selected ‘green zones’ across the country. These green zones are over 400 districts across the country, wherein coronavirus positive cases have been 0 for a significant duration.
