Uber and Ola have resumed services in Mumbai for essential services and trips. This includes rides to and from the airport. Currently, travelers can find cabs in Terminal 2 of the Mumbai Airport. However, in accordance with the social distancing norms, the Uber and Ola rides will not be allowed to take more than two passengers at a time. In addition, the cabs will also go through mandatory fumigation via disinfectants.
Meanwhile, those looking for cabs in the city will be notified that the cabs are available for essential services only. This also includes grocery shopping. Autorickshaws and kaali-peeli cabs will still not be allowed to run in large numbers. Also, local authorities recently allowed the safe functioning of rickshaws and kaali peelis around busy railway stations. Moreover, drivers have requested authorities to allow the running of local taxis and rickshaws near commercial office areas.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the income of kaali-peelis and rickshaws had seen a rapid decrease before the service was completely shut down. Since March, taxi drivers have reported up to 50% loss of revenue in daily income. Since the fifth stage of the lockdown has been focusing on gradual reopening through the country, it shouldn’t be too long before taxis and rickshaws are allowed to run on the streets. However, the authorities will have to ensure that proper sanitization and social distancing is maintained during the functioning of the cabs. Since Maharashtra is one of the worst affected states in the country, the risk of a new wave of coronavirus cases in the state is quite high.
Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in Mumbai now stands at 51,100.