Ola integrates its safety features with Bengaluru police’s Suraksha app

• Ola has partnered with the Bengaluru police and has integrated its in-app emergency button with the Bengaluru City Police control room.
• Ola had already implemented a similar feature in Hyderabad.
• This is in addition to Ola’s artificial intelligence led safety feature – Guardian.

Indian ride hailing unicorn Ola has partnered with the Bengaluru police and has integrated its in-app emergency button with the Bengaluru City Police control room.

With this, users in need of help can directly call the police from the Ola app. Once the call is placed, the police will also receive real-time access to the cab’s location, driver’s details and other details that will help them track it.

Ola said that in such cases, its Safety Response Team (SRT) too will reach out to the customer and provide on-phone assistance until the customer is safe.

“With shared cab services being a popular mode of transport in the city, Bengaluru City Police now offers great convenience and ensures the citizens of Bengaluru a secure ride-hailing experience by integrating Suraksha app with Ola application. This is a one-of-kind initiative taken by the Bengaluru City Police to ensure their citizens safety while traveling in cabs,” said Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru.

Ola had already implemented a similar feature in Hyderabad. This is in addition to Ola’s safety feature, Guardian. Ola Guardian has been running as a pilot programme since September 2018 in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune.

It was recently launched in 16 cities in India and Perth, Australia. In India, the feature is available in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Coimbatore, Indore and Trichy.

An Artificial Intelligence led feature tracks a ride for any irregularities and alerts are sent directly to Ola’s Safety Response Team. Ola’s recent London launch also made it one of the first ride hailing services in the UK to offer a pin verification feature as a safety measure.

Meanwhile, Ola and its rival Uber have both been doubling their safety features in India. Uber had launched three new safety features in January 2020 – audio recording, ridecheck and PIN verification for the Indian market. This came in after Uber had already launched a 24X7 safety helpline for its consumers.

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