No More Ride Sharing Services from Ola and Uber - COVID-19 Effect

As the Coronavirus has spread to over 160 countries/regions and caused the death of over 11,000 people, many companies have started to take precaution measures. With most companies having made it mandatory to 'work-from-home', it's encouraged to stay indoors as much as possible and avoid any sort of social contact. In line with this, popular ride and hailing apps Uber and Ola have temporarily stopped the service of shared rides until further notice in order to help prevent the spread of the virus.

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A statement issued by Ola reads

In our efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, we are temporarily suspending the 'Ola Share' category until further notice.

The 'Uber Pool' and ‘Ola Share’ services allow the customers to share their rides with others so that they can travel to the destinations with lower fares in comparison to having the entire cab to themselves. This service has been suspended so that social distancing can be encouraged. The companies also stated that mini, micro and prime, outstation and rental services will be continued.

Ab Uber spokesperson said-

We are determined to help reduce the spread of coronavirus in the cities we serve. With that in mind, we are suspending the Uber Pool service across India.

The 'Ola Share' service has been suspended to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Even in the US and Canada, Lyft and Uber both have suspended their shared pooled ride services — Lyft Line and UberPool, respectively. Andrew Macdonald, Uber's SVP of Global Rides and Platform, said in a written statement-

Our goal is to help flatten the curve of community spread in the cities we serve. Health and safety of the Lyft community is our top priority, and we’re dedicated to doing what we can to slow the spread of COVID-19. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and base our actions on official guidance.

However, single rides and delivery services like that of Uber Eats will continue to be on offer. That said, even the officials and delivery partners of these companies have been trying to bring down any sort of human contact to the minimum.