Uber temporarily suspends services in Delhi; Ola available for emergencies

In the wake of rising cases of Covid-19 in India, the two major app-based aggregator cab services — Ola and Uber are not going to be available in Delhi till March 31.

This comes ahead of the country's capital being locked down by the government from March 23 to 31, under which no public transport, including private buses, taxis, and auto-rickshaws will be allowed.

"In compliance with the government guidelines, Uber has temporarily suspended all its services in Delhi and will not be available until further notice," said Pradeep Parameswaran, India SA Uber Head via email notification.

"Such measures should not be taken lightly, and public health authorities' instructions should be followed properly," he added.

On the other hand, Ola will provide a minimal network of vehicles to support essential services in cities, wherever applicable, as part of this national effort to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

Previously, Uber-Ola had said that they would be operational as usual to support the essential and emergency travel requirements. However, as the central government has come up with the limit and restrictions, both companies will have to work as per the government's guidelines until March 31.

Recently, both companies had also suspended their ride-sharing option — Uber Pool and Ola Share.

Queries sent to Ola didn't elicit any response. We will update the post as and when they respond.

The coronavirus spread undoubtedly continues to have a negative effect on the global economy, including startups.

As the reports of positive cases in India cross 400 — the highest increase in a 24-hour span, e-commerce and online grocery space, apart from the ride-hailing sector are also experiencing a sharp decline in their daily business.

In view of the Janata Curfew on March 22, the e-commerce operators were forced to cancel their tons of orders for essential goods — food, groceries, and medicine.

Meanwhile, online grocery platforms Grofers and BigBasket have also imposed unit caps on the number of essential goods that can be purchased by a consumer over a month.