The Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed fear, uncertainty and hardships among all of us, but the impact has been much greater among the more vulnerable sections of society. The elderly are one such group that needs a helping hand now, more than ever, to get access to safe transportation for their rescue, relief, medical and other critical care needs.

Today, we are partnering with HelpAge India, a leading NGO dedicated to serving the disadvantaged elderly, for providing 1,000 free rides a month. The rides  will be provided from October to December 2020 across Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai. 

The partnership also supports the International Day of Older Persons (IDOP), observed on 1st October every year, and raises awareness of the higher risks confronted by the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Speaking about the partnership, Rohit Prasad, CEO, HelpAge India, said, “We are delighted to partner with Uber towards building an age friendly and caring society. HelpAge India’s National Elder Helpline team across several cities is reaching out to them in times of emergency, responding to the needs of the destitute elders. Access to mobility has been a big challenge in providing timely response and at such a time, this partnership with Uber will enable us to provide timely support to the needy elders as well as our workers and volunteers.”

Through this partnership, we will provide logistics support to HelpAge India for the following:

  • HelpAge runs a 24*7 Helpline across 21 states and often carries out rescue operations for the elderly in distress who require transportation support. Uber will facilitate such rescue missions as well as help transport the elderly to the nearest hospital for a medical emergency, temporary shelters or drop them to their homes. 
  • Uber rides will be used for transporting patients in places where HelpAge India does not operate its flagship programme Mobile Medicare Units (MMU). 
  • HelpAge runs a helpdesk for the elderly at a few premier healthcare institutions – All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Delhi, Rishikesh and Government Medical College & Hospital, Chennai. Uber services will be used for patient transportation to these hospitals.
  • HelpAge has been providing physiotherapy services to the needy elderly but due to travel restrictions during the ongoing pandemic, the elderly are finding it difficult to reach the physiotherapy centers. Uber will provide them access to such centres. 

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, we have launched multiple initiatives to support local authorities, civil society organisations, State Governments as well as Chief Minister’s Offices. As a part of this initiative, we supported Robin Hood Army’s Mission 30 Million project, one of the largest food relief efforts by civic society. We also facilitated over 280,000 free rides to the National Health Authority (NHA) as well as various city and State Governments across the nation for transporting thousands of frontline healthcare workers and volunteers. These free rides were a part of our larger global commitment to donate 10 million free rides and food deliveries to healthcare workers, senior citizens, and people in need. 

Our team continues to work around the clock to do what matters the most, to support the communities we serve.