Homegrown cab-hailing startup Ola’s social welfare arm- Ola Foundation has started its ‘Drive The Driver’ fund initiative for providing its driver-partners and their families with assistance during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
The initiative will allow the 55k+ affected families by providing 9.3 million meals and aiding over 843 medical emergencies across 25 cities.
The ‘Drive The Driver’ initiative, launched in March, assists the driver community through contributions made by Ola Group, its employees, co-founder & CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, investors, and other sources crowdfunding.
The initiative aims to provide short-term and long-term assistance to its driver community as they continue to recover from the financial and economic impact of the crisis.
As reported by TOI (1), a senior official stated,
“We wanted to completely ease the financial burden from drivers s so they could focus on their own well-being and that of their families. Hence, we have set an upper limit of Rs 1 lakh for reimbursement.”
Providing assistance during the crisis
Anand Subramanian, the spokesperson for Ola, said that the pandemic’s onset brought unprecedented crisis for many people, including the drivers who form the crux of our country’s mobility ecosystem.
He further expressed gratitude towards the unbelievable support received by their initiative within the ecosystem from citizens and consumers.
The Ola Foundation has financially aided over 843 families in more than 119 cities across the country so far.
Ola Foundation has set up 200 locations to distribute care packages with essential items comprising rice, flour, and lentils sufficient to feed a family for four to two weeks.
The Ola Foundation’s initiative has further helped the drivers and their families by providing them with help for facilities related to medical emergencies faced during the lockdown. The platform aims to decrease the burden off the shoulders of their driver community by providing them with the right help needed during this economic crisis.
