Ola integrates its ‘Emergency Button’ with Bengaluru City Police Control room

 

Arun Srinivas, COO, Ola, and Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru
(L-R) Arun Srinivas, COO, Ola, and Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru

 

  • As part of this integration, Ola will seamlessly share ride information with Bengaluru Police, when customers request emergency assistance through the app
  • The development is an extension of Ola’s efforts to proactively develop localized programs to eliminate preventable incidents

Bengaluru, 19 February, 2020: Ola, India’s largest mobility platform and one of the world’s largest ride-hailing companies, has integrated its in-app emergency button with the Bengaluru City Police control room. This integration will enable seamless sharing of ride-information including driver and car details, GPS coordinates of the vehicle, and customer’s contact information. This development further strengthens Ola’s commitment to foster safer mobility through collaboration with local authorities.

As part of this technology integration, whenever a customer presses the ‘emergency button’, they will have the option to call the police directly via 100. Once this is activated, the police will have real-time access to the customer’s ride information and the vehicle’s GPS coordinates, enabling quicker response and on-ground support from the nearest police team. Additionally, Ola’s Safety Response Team (SRT) will also immediately contact the customer and provide on-phone assistance until the customer’s safety is confirmed. This technology integration will better equip the police to provide quick real-time on-ground support.

Speaking about the association, Shri Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City said, “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.”

He further added, “A great initiative taken by Bengaluru City Police for the safety of citizens travelling in public cabs. The travelers can now reach for police help by simply pressing the Emergency Button provided in the Ola application.

Bengaluru City Police is constantly working on building a safer city for its citizens, by integrating with mobility platforms like Ola, at first. This is a one-of-kind initiative taken by Bengaluru City Police to ensure their citizens safety while traveling in cabs.”

Arun Srinivas, COO at Ola, said, “As India’s largest mobility platform, safety is a key priority for us and we believe in leveraging technology to provide our customers with a secure and comfortable mobility experience. We are grateful to the Bengaluru Police City police for collaborating with us and supporting our cause to enable safer rides.”

He further added, “We will continue to work with the authorities and together set global benchmarks in fostering a safe, convenient and integrated mobility ecosystem in our cities.”

Having forged a similar association with Hyderabad City Police, Ola is also exploring partnerships with law enforcement authorities across the country.

This collaboration also complements Ola’s host of measures to strengthen ride safety for the larger ecosystem. This includes industry-first practices such as the one-time-pin (OTP) feature and Ola Guardian, its flagship real-time customer ride monitoring system. Ola recently expanded its AI-based safety feature to 45 cities and towns across India, Australia and the UK. The ‘Guardian’ feature uses real-time data from rides to automatically detect irregular trip activity, including prolonged stops and unexpected route deviations. These alerts are flagged off in real-time to Ola’s 24×7 SRT that immediately reach out to customers and drivers to confirm if they’re safe and offer on-the-call assistance until ride completion.

 

How it works:

  1. In case of an emergency situation, customers can tap the ‘emergency button’ on the top right corner of the screen
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  2. Once the emergency mode is activated, Ola’s Safety Response Team is notified to immediately call the customer to check on their situation. At the same time, customers also see an option to choose to speak to the police directly by tapping ‘Call Police’.
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The below information is passed on to the Police department in case of emergency being triggered by the customer:

  • Customer Details
    • Name
    • City
    • Address (NA in case if customer has not given any address)
    • Mobile number
    • Email
    • Emergency Contact details (Upto 5 contacts)
    • Gender
  • Emergency Details
    • Date & time
    • Emergency Message
    • GPS coordinates of the vehicle where EMERGENCY was tapped
  • Driver Details
    • Driver’s Name
    • Driver’s Contact No
    • Vehicle No
    • Vehicle Model
  • Real-time ride tracking solution

 

About Ola:
Ola is India’s largest mobility platform and one of the world’s largest ride-hailing companies, serving 250+ cities across India, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. The Ola app offers mobility solutions by connecting customers to drivers and a wide range of vehicles across bikes, auto-rickshaws, metered taxis, and cabs, enabling convenience and transparency for hundreds of millions of consumers and over 2 million driver-partners.

Ola’s core mobility offering in India is supplemented by its electric-vehicle arm, Ola Electric; India’s largest fleet management business, Ola Fleet Technologies and Ola Skilling that aims to enable millions of livelihood opportunities for India’s youth. With its acquisition of Ridlr, India’s leading public transportation app and investment in Vogo, a dockless scooter sharing solution, Ola is looking to build mobility for the next billion Indians. Ola also extends its consumer offerings like micro-insurance and credit led payments through Ola Financial Services and a range of owned food brands through India’s largest network of kitchens under its Food business.

Ola was founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati with a mission to build mobility for a billion people. For more details, visit www.olacabs.com/media.