The Andhra Pradesh State Government has permitted commercial cab service aggregator to resume operations in Visakhapatnam for patients in need. Ola cabs in Vizag will be available on a priority basis for patients with pre-scheduled appointments.
Making the announcement, the Principal Secretary for Transport, Roads and Buildings Department M T Krishna Rao (IAS) stated that the cab services will be available to ferry passengers to hospitals amid the country-wide lockdown that has been enforced strictly in Visakhapatnam. Patients undergoing dialysis treatment, cancer and heart patients can hire the cabs, said the officer.
Currently, coronavirus patients cannot avail these services, as per the rules. Stating that doctors and other medical staff can also avail the cab services, M T Krishna Rao said that strict action will be taken against the citizens using the cab services for any work other than medical emergencies.
Mr. Rao stated that the ola cab services in Vizag will be flagged off on a pilot basis starting Friday (10 April 2020). He directed that the citizens in Vizag must use ola cabs only for travelling to the hospitals and back home.
Further rules of the services require only one attendant to travel along with the patient. As per the latest instructions from the World Health Organisation, both patient and attendant must wear masks compulsorily while stepping out. Since cabs are enclosed spaces which could be a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria, they will be fumigated after every trip.
With this pilot project, Visakhapatnam becomes the second city where an ola emergency cab service of its kind is functional. The first project started in Bengaluru, Karnataka for passengers in need.
Those wishing to hire the cabs in Vizag can do so in the ‘Ola Emergency’ section of the Ola mobile application. A location list of fifty hospitals across the city is pre-loaded in the app for the consumer to pick from. This has been done to ensure that the cabs would be used only for essential travel.
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