MUMBAI:
Ola, one of the world’s leading mobility companies, today announced that it has successfully administered the first dose of vaccinations for over 50 percent of its employees and their dependents.
In March, Ola had committed that it would provide free vaccination to all of its employees and their dependents as well as its contractors, consultants, advisors and their immediate dependents. Ola completed vaccination of those above 45 years of age in April and the drive to vaccinate the rest began early last week, after the government opened up vaccination for all 18+ age groups in May. The drive is live in Bangalore where majority of Ola’s employees are and will expand to other cities in the coming weeks as vaccine supplies improve.
To provide a seamless and safe vaccination experience Ola has partnered with leading hospitals and has set up the vaccination camp within the Ola Campus. This helps people avoid unnecessary exposure in hospital visits and also makes it super convenient as there is minimal wait time. The vaccine is administered by qualified professionals from the hospital. Each employee is kept under observation for 30 mins post vaccination and then discharged.
Speaking on the vaccination drive, Rohit Munjal, Group CHRO at Ola said “Health and safety of our people is paramount and at Ola, we have been focused on taking a comprehensive view and providing meaningful support so our people and their loved ones can stay healthy and safe whether they are at work or at home. Our efforts encompass not just employees but our broader community including contractors, advisors, consultants as well as drivers and consumers. Vaccination is an important step in our fight against the pandemic and we aim to vaccinate all our people over the coming weeks.”
Since the pandemic began last year, Ola has taken significant steps to ensure safety of its key community stakeholders including employees, contractors, consultants, drivers and consumers.
It started with the setting up of a dedicated Covid Action Team that runs Ola’s comprehensive safety and support operation for Covid relief. Over the last year The Covid Action Team has been constantly creating and implementing processes to ensure safety of all employees and a safe workplace for all stakeholders in the Ola ecosystem. The key measures include:
24×7 Healthcare & Financial Support
In addition to Covid being covered under the existing healthcare policy, Ola also provides reimbursement of any expense related to covid treatment including medical tests, medicines & equipment being bought by employees upto 30,000 rupees. In addition to this, Ola also extends additional financial assistance to employees who might require it on a case by case basis.
Further, Ola has
● Set up a panel of independent mental health counsellors, in addition to the Employee Assistance Program for those who may require counselling
● A dedicated 247 Covid Care helpline number to provide healthcare support and assistance for all its employees and their dependents including booking hospital beds, procuring medicines and oxygen cylinders or concentrators etc ● 247 ambulance service in Bangalore, non-ambulance transport to hospitals and emergency doctor-consultations
● For any employee that tests positive the Covid Action Helpline is in touch on a daily basis to keep track of their health and address any requirements they might have
Quarantine Assistance
For employees who find it difficult to quarantine at home, either because of lack of space available or due to at-risk elderly people staying with them or even if they are alone and unable to take care of themselves, Ola provides hotel stays so they can quarantine safely and be taken care of till they recover.
Safety at the Workplace
While almost all of Ola’s workforce continues to work from home, making the workplace a safe zone has been a top priority for the company over the last year since the pandemic began. Ola has introduced innovative and industry-first measures including world-class technologies such as thermal sensing cameras and AI-based face mask identification for entry and exit into the Campus. The Ola Campus has contactless hand sanitizers placed across multiple locations on each floor, contactless operations for water taps and water dispensers.
Ola has also set-up testing facilities on campus itself and every employee who wants to visit the office must get a negative test result before they are allowed entry. In addition, any employee can get their test done at any time by contacting Ola’s Covid Action Team who will schedule the test at home. All test costs are borne by Ola. In total, so far Ola has carried out nearly 15,000 RT-PCR tests.
Finally, for strict enforcement on campus, Ola has Covid marshals deployed to ensure its enhanced Covid safety protocols are followed in addition to masks and appropriate social distancing.
O2forIndia Drive
In addition to the extensive measures taken by Ola for its employees, contractors, advisors and their dependents, for its consumers Ola Foundation, Ola’s philanthropic arm has initiated O2forIndia drive to provide oxygen concentrators for free through the Ola App. Consumers can log into the Ola app and request for an oxygen concentrator and Ola will then pick up the concentrator via one of its cabs and bring it to the consumer’s doorstep. Once the consumer is better, Ola will pick it back up and get it ready for the next patient. The concentrator and the pick up and drop are entirely free.
Drive the Driver Fund
Ola Foundation launched this fund right at the start of the pandemic to support all drivers irrespective of the platform they’re on. It provides short and long-term assistance to the driver community to help them tide over the pandemic.
So far, the fund has impacted 55,918 families, enabled 10M meals and aided 843 medical emergencies across 25 cities.
It distributes care packages with essential supplies as well as supporting medical emergencies such as acute illness, pregnancies, and more.
Ola also provides comprehensive insurance plan for its driver partners with cover upto 500,000 rupees. Unlike traditional life insurance programs, this plan also provides daily benefits in case of hospitalization that cover business losses, apart from taking care of outstanding car loans and children’s education. Further, Ola also offers coverage of up to Rs. 30,000 for driver-partners and their spouses affected by Covid.
In addition to the fund and the medical benefits, Ola also rolled out Ola Sahyog during phase 1 of lockdown through Avail Finance, to offer easy credit access to the driver community to tide over the liquidity crunch.
