Ride hailing service Ola, on March 27, launched the ‘Drive the Driver Fund’ to support auto-rickshaw, cab, kaali-peeli (black and yellow cabs) and taxi drivers, amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown, which has “left the country’s drivers without any daily income”. “The mobility industry has been brought to a grinding standstill during these stressed times, and the driver community has been finding it hard to pay for their family expenses without a source of income," Ola said in a blog post. What the proceeds from the fund will cover: The fund aims to raise Rs 50 crore. Proceeds will be used to: Provide drivers and their families a daily compensation from the day they are tested positive for COVID-19 Essential groceries Emergency support for critical illnesses, both COVID-related and otherwise. Uber is offering its drivers financial assistance for up to 14 days in case they get diagnosed with COVID-19 and are placed in quarantine by the authorities. However, outside of the COVID-19 situation, Ola does not offer health insurance to its drivers and only provides coverage for the downtime in business while a driver is hospitalised. Ola employees and co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal contribute to the fund: At the time of writing this story, the fund has raised over Rs 21 crore, out of which the Ola group and its employees had contributed ₹20 crore, and co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal has forgone a year's salary that will be diverted towards the fund. For context, in 2016, Aggarwal had reportedly drawn a salary of ₹39.75 lakh, but had earned…
