Ola passengers can now contact Bengaluru cops from app if in distress

Leading cab-aggregator Ola on Thursday announced that it has integrated its in-app emergency button with the Bengaluru City Police Control Room. The announcement comes after a meeting between Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and Arun Srinivas, Chief Operations Officer at Ola.

In a press release, Ola said that this integration will enable seamless sharing of ride-information including driver and car details, GPS coordinates of the vehicle, and customer’s contact information to this police, once the passenger presses the SOS button on the app. This technology integration will better equip the police to provide quick real-time on-ground support, Ola said.

With this, whenever a customer presses the ‘emergency button’, they will have the option to call the police directly via 100. 

Ola added that the company will continue to provide remote customer support as well. Ola’s Safety Response Team (SRT) will also immediately contact the customer and provide on-phone assistance until the customer’s safety is confirmed.

Bengaluru is the second city after Hyderabad to have this facility. Earlier, the Ola had entered into a similar association with Hyderabad City Police.

This development comes with continuing reports of incidents of harassment by taxi drivers getting reported, especially with women passengers being targeted during late hours.  

Ola has released a step by step guide to use the new feature

How it works:

1. In case of an emergency situation, customers can tap the ‘emergency button’ on the top right corner of the screen.
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’.