Ola Cabs Announces Interest-Free Loans of Up to Rs 3,600 for Drivers Stuck Without Work

Olacabs, India's largest ride hailing service, has announced the introduction of a micro-credit initiative for its drivers, in a bid to lend financial aid in times of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The initiative is called 'Sahyog', and is being targeted at over 1 lac driver partners that are presently associated with Olacabs. As part of the initiative, Olacabs will be extending small loans of Rs 1,200 per person per week, for three weeks, hence extending total financial assistance of Rs 3,600 per driver.

The loan, which is being offered to drivers interest-free, will be applicable for all Olacabs drivers, including Ola Auto. In a release note shared with News18, the company states that the amount will only be required to be paid back by the drivers over a period of time, once the nation-wide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic is lifted, and all services and normal life is restored. The micro-loan service is being offered by Olacabs in partnership with Avail Finance, through whom the drivers can register to get access to the cash during this period.

So far, Olacabs had already announced that it will be covering the medical expenses, through a floater insurance policy, for driver partners and their families affected by COVID-19. The company has also claimed that it will "cover loss of income" for the driver partners and their spouses, should they test positive for COVID-19. Olacabs has also temporarily postponed the monthly installments that their drivers pay towards leasing cars from the company, which the company has stated will only resume once normal life is restored.

As of now, Olacabs has not disclosed if there are any fine prints that may make only a select subset of drivers eligible for availing the interest-free loans. An Olacabs spokesperson was yet to respond on the details at the time of publishing of the story. Olacabs presently holds about 60 percent of the market right now.

Its biggest rival in the market, Uber, has so far announced support for any driver affected by COVID-19, but is yet to announce any details on initiatives for the rest of its driver fleet. A company executive with knowledge of the matter said that Uber might be making a related announcement within the coming days, although concrete details were not revealed in process.