Ola has come forward to help as India struggles to keep its citizens safe from the COVID-19 crisis. Ola has redesigned its technology platform to conduct tracking, navigation, and managing crowds on a real-time basis in addition to other activities it already handles. The central and state governments can access this platform at no cost.
The Indian firm is already in talks with the state government of Punjab; Ola has also said that its tech platform can be repurposed to aid the government as well as public service organisations in handling their real-time war rooms.
The platform is capable of tracking millions of people and vehicles; it is also equipped with a feature which can confirm whether people are wearing masks or not by verifying a selfie picture. Ola utilises the latter to authenticate if the individual in the driving seat is a registered driving partner or not. The firm has also stressed about how it will ensure to maintain the highest degree of privacy and protection of data collated from people.
Ravi Bhagat, Special Secretary for Governance Reforms and Secretary Punjab Mandi Board said that the Ola CONNECTS is an effective platform which stakeholders within the government can deploy quickly in order to help the general public amid the ongoing crisis.
Ola CONNECTS will help in:
- Emergency and healthcare support
- Vehicle and logistics movement
- Supply chain management
- Law enforcement
- Deployment of frontline sources
- Incident and information response
Ola said that the government is using the company’s technology in Punjab to track and manage more than 1.7 million farmers’ produce and their vehicular movement within vegetable markets to make sure they are following the protocol around social distancing.
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In Punjab, the state government is also using Ola’s technology platform to grant travel passes digitally. In India, state governments are giving passes to medical professionals and others who genuinely have to leave their homes to attend urgent work.
Ola has also announced a waiver concerning lease rent for its driver-partners. The firm has also committed to render a few hundred dollars to its driver-partners and their respective families who test positive for the coronavirus.
Pranay Jivrajka, the Co-founder of Ola, mentioned in a statement that all of Ola’s innovations around AI, allocation, tracking technologies, and flow management are part of the Ola CONNECTS platform. He mentioned that as a firm, it is committed to serving the nation in every way possible and is offering this platform at no cost. He also said that this platform is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals, doctors, and front-line workers who are leading India’s fight against COVID-19.
For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at bhavana.pn@cleartax.in
Bhavana is a Senior Content Writer handling the GST vertical. She is committed, professional, and has a flair for writing. When away from work, she enjoys watching movies and playing with her son. One thing she can’t resist is SHOPPING! Her favourite quote is: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”.
