Do you share a car while commuting to office? Follow these rules

There are standard operating procedures to be followed when one takes a flight, also for those boarding a train or taking a bus.

How about the SOP for those who use car-pool or share cabs to commute from home to office and back? After all, 174 million people in India used car pooling in 2019, says data from Statista.

With companies around the country allowing up to one-third of their employees to get back to offices post the lockdown, people have also started using car pooling.

"A little over 10 percent of our members have started using the service," says Shailesh Dubey of Liftlelo, a carpooling service in Mumbai. With over 20,000 members, Liftlelo works through WhatsApp groups dedicated to specific routes in the city.

To ensure social distancing and hygiene in the cars, Dubey laid out a few guidelines to be followed, both for the car owner and the co-passengers.

A few, says Dubey, are mandatory. These include:

1. Wearing masks
2. Sanitising hands
3. Using face shield
4. Only two passengers, apart from the driver, allowed in each car
5. Avoid exchanging mobile chargers
6. Sanitise umbrella handles, as rains have started

7. Travel with same people as much as possible
8. And if down with cold , cough or fever please stay home and avoid carpool

Some guidelines are what Dubey calls, preventive. These are:

1. Avoid phone calls
2. Carry just one bag
3. Declare verbally in good Faith, if your colleague/ family member / neighbours are having COVID-19
4 No sharing of food
5. Avoid handshakes
6. Let the car owner operate window buttons centrally, to prevent multiple touches

"And yes," concludes Dubey, "No corona discussions in the car or on WhatsApp groups."