Gurgaon: Cab hailing company Ola has added real-time monitoring support to its interface. Named Ola Guardian, the new feature will be available in Delhi and Kolkata to start with. Other cities are expected to get the update by the end of the year.
Aimed at increasing safety of passengers, particularly women, Ola Guardian is an AI (Artificial Intelligence)-driven system that track route deviations, unexpected stops and others of all active rides. If the system triggers an alert, the data will be examined by Ola’s safety response team which will then connect with the customer to assess the situation.
“Ola Guardian, the real-time monitoring system to strengthen ride safety of customers, has been launched as a pilot in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune,” the company said in a statement.
The company is also mapping unsafe routes into the monitoring system by collaborating with the state governments. This will help the AI take better decisions.
The move has been welcomed by many. Anubhuti Mishra, an Advocate, thinks the move is very practical and also points out the detours that cab drivers take to refuel during a trip. “Often, a cabbie would request you to take a short detour to stop for CNG/fuel refills on the way, which many a times becomes a 20-25 minute stop. If I’m charged per minute or waiting, when the vehicle is stalled in a jam or anywhere, I think I should have a recourse to point out the reason for such halt, especially when it is attributable to the driver. Also, an important point from the perspective of safety of female customers, it is scary when your cab driver takes a ‘shorter route’ to avoid jams or at late hours, and there is no parameter to report it, even if nothing untowardly happens. Such a move will give female customers more assurance in terms of safety,” the Delhi-based advocate from Odisha said.
Recently, Ola has also added a selfie-authentication system for drivers that prevents impersonators from driving through the system.
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