CB BureauAn initiative to crowdsource funds for improving cancer care in the country was launched by Ola, the ride-sharing company. The ‘My Ride, My Cause’ programme leverages Ola’s platform to reach out to millions of customers across India. Through this initiative, Ola customers will have the option to contribute a sum of INR 1 per ride. Ola has partnered with Tata Trusts’ Alamelu Charitable Foundation (ACF) on this.
The contributions raised by Ola customers will be funnelled to the foundation to make cancer care affordable and available in rural India. The funds will help in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Such cases are seeing an increase in the country with 14.5 lakh new cases reported in 2016 alone. Lack of infrastructure, skilled human resources, and cancer-prevention programmes further aggravate this problem. While Tata Trusts is working to support the delivery of affordable and accessible care and regular screening, Ola is facilitating fundraising through its platform.
Interestingly, when CauseBecause asked the Ola spokesperson if the company was going to match the contributions, the response was evasive and the question was circumvented, which implies that Ola’s only contribution will be to lend its platform for the cause without any monetary donation from its side.
Customers can contribute through these steps:
Step 1: Once a ride is booked, customers will be able to see an option to contribute INR 1 on the ride-booking screen.
Step 2: Upon clicking ‘see how’, customers will be able to see detailed information about the foundation and how their contributions will be used.
Step 3: The button at the bottom of the screen that says ‘Donate INR 1 on every ride’ enables the contribution.
Step 4: Once accepted, customers will see their contribution towards the foundation in the ride-details screen for every ride. Customers can choose to opt in and out at any point of time.
Step 5: Alternatively, customers can activate contributions from the ‘Donations’ section, under Profiles in the global menu.
Customers will be able to track the total amount of contributions made and can also claim tax exemption with an 80G certificate for the contributions made (available from January 2019).
In a press release shared with CB, Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola, said, ‘As a homegrown and leading mobility platform, Ola is committed to enabling holistic well-being and prosperity of the country. This initiative reiterates our commitment as it will unify millions of Ola customers to mobilise funds and ensure that aid reaches where it is needed the most in our country.’
R. Venkataramanan, managing trustee – Tata Trusts, said, ‘Nationwide early cancer detection and access to quality care is a dire need. Tata Trusts is playing a facilitating role to establish infrastructure, develop protocols and trained personnel in partnership with multiple state governments, NGOs, hospitals and clinicians across the country. However, this task requires collaboration between multiple stakeholders. We are grateful to Ola and are privileged to partner with them to support this noble cause.’