Uber offers discounted tuk trips for helping riders get to vaccination centres

• Partners with Ministry of Health to launch COVID-19 public awareness campaign

Uber yesterday announced it would provide discounted trips on its popular tuk service for residents travelling to 13 vaccination centres across Colombo for supporting the Government’s vaccination drive and removing transport as a barrier to vaccine access. 

To redeem Uber’s promo code, trips must start or end at one of the vaccine centres: New Bazzar Maternity Home, New Bazar, C.M.C. Dispensary & Maternity Home, Kirula, Maternal & Child Welfare Centre Borella, Borella, Wellawatta Market, Wellawaththa, MOH Office Boralesgamuwa, Boralesgamuwa, Lunawa Hospital, Egoda Uyana, Temple Rukmalgama, Pannipitiya, Maharagama, Maternal & Child Health Clinic, Soyzapura, Moratuwa, Kichilan reception hall, Slave Island, Colombo 02, Sampura Flats, Forbes Road, Sri Dharmavijayaramaya, Nawagampura, Sri Jinendrarama Temple, Thimbirigasyaya and Keththarama Maha Viharaya Temple, Keththaramaya.

Uber is also partnering with the Ministry of Health to launch a COVID-19 awareness campaign to reinforce safety and hygiene protocols for helping revive Sri Lanka’s economy while promoting best practices in safety.

The public service awareness campaign will stress the importance of wearing masks, social distancing and other COVID safe behaviour even after inoculations. Uber will spread awareness through its app, with messages to educate users across its platform, including riders, driver partners, eaters and courier partners. 

The company will be distributing in-car placards to driver partners, along with stickers and posters to Uber Eats restaurant partners, to further encourage everyone to follow safety guidelines at all times and drive a collective sense of responsibility.

Speaking about Uber’s efforts, Uber Head of Sri Lanka Subodh Sangwan said, “We want to support the government to get as many Sri Lankans vaccinated and by offering discounted rides we want to help remove any transportation barriers which could prevent residents from travelling safely to vaccine centres. Continuing our commitment to MoveWhatMatters, our public awareness campaign in partnership with the Ministry of Health will reinforce the importance of practicing safe public health behaviours to control COVID-19 so that our communities can quickly recover from the pandemic and rebuild their lives.”

Ministry of Health Public Health Services II Deputy Director General Dr. Susie Perera said: “In Sri Lanka’s fight against COVID-19, public-private partnerships will play a valuable role to help the country move ‘Towards a New Normal’. We are thankful for Uber’s support in leveraging their platform to raise awareness around crucial preventive measures. Support to build favourable public attitudes and behaviours of DReAM (Distancing, Respiratory etiquette, Aseptic technique and Masks) is vital for the COVID-19 response. From the inception, the responsibility taken by Uber in delivering food and essential supplies to citizen’s homes in a safe way is commendable. We look forward to working with Uber in helping Sri Lanka move again.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Uber has introduced a number of safety measures to ensure the safety of everyone who uses the Uber and Uber Eats apps.  

Uber was the first ridesharing company to pioneer and install safety screens in December last year across 1,500 tuks and cars for enhancing the safety of riders and drivers. In its efforts to continually raise the bar on safety during the new normal, Uber has now completed the installation of 4000 safety screens across tuks and cars in Sri Lanka.

Uber Eats introduced features including a checklist of COVID safety measures before courier partners could go online, mask verification selfie and frequent temperature checks, contactless ‘Leave at Door’ deliveries, and in-app reminders to observe social distancing norms. 

Uber’s mobility business launched a comprehensive set of tech enabled safety measures for helping riders feel safe, every time they use Uber. This includes an interactive Go Online Checklist, a mandatory mask policy for both riders and drivers, industry first pre-trip mask verification selfies for riders and drivers, and mandatory driver education on safety SOPs. 

Complementing these measures, Uber and Uber Eats have jointly distributed PPE including masks and sanitisers to driver and courier partners, amounting to a total of Rs. 17.4 million.