Uber, Ola integrate apps with Bengaluru police to enable faster emergency response

Ride-hailing firms Uber and Ola on Monday announced a technology integration with the Bengaluru City Police (BCP) aimed at enhancing safety for riders and drivers by strengthening emergency response mechanisms in the city.

Under the integration, users seeking emergency assistance will be able to share their real-time location, trip details and contact information directly with the police from within the app. The feature is expected to enable faster access to critical information, supporting quicker — and potentially life-saving — intervention by first responders.

Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said “This integration with cab service providers allows us to receive real-time location and user details directly, which can significantly reduce response time and help us assist citizens more effectively during emergencies,” he said.

Uber previously rolled out similar safety integrations with law enforcement agencies in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai, and plans to expand such partnerships across India, Nair added.

How it works?

Riders or drivers can access the safety toolkit by tapping the blue shield icon during a trip. On selecting ‘112’ assistance, users will be prompted with their location and contact details, and informed that these will be shared automatically when they swipe to call 112. After the ‘swipe to call’, trip and contact information will be shared with the police by default. Users who do not wish to share location data can turn off the sharing option; in such cases, the SOS signal will not be shared with the police control room, though they can still call 112 directly from their phone.