Zomato, Urban Company make Aarogya Setu app mandatory for staff, partners

Government's coronavirus app will help companies to meet guidlines allowing e-commerce firms to function during the national lockdown.

Zomato and Urban Company have made Aarogya Setu, the government’s coronavirus app, mandatory for their employees to meet guidlines allowing e-commerce firms to function during the national lockdown to contain the disease.

Zomato, a food delivery company, said the app will inform individuals and authorities in case their delivery partners cross paths with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. "We have made sure that they can only log in to their Zomato Delivery Partner app only if their phone has the Aarogya Setu app installed, and is running as a background process on their phone," said the New Delhi-based company in a statement.

Urban Company’s services providers, such as carpenters, plumbers and electricians, will have to show their risk status on the app before start work on a service call. The professionals have been advised to show customers the Aarogya Setu app to assure them of their health and fitness levels before starting a service.

"Urban Company has put in place a strict six-step safety protocol for all services. These protocols include daily temporary checks, wearing masks and gloves, sanitization of tools & surfaces, use of single-use sachets and disposables, sick leave program, etc. A very important SOP is our service partner showing consumers their status on the Aarogya Setu app before entering the consumer's house." said Abhiraj Bhal, Co-founder of Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap).

Customers, too, will have to self declare that they do not have any flu-like symptoms like fever, cough or breathlessness or they have not come in direct contact with a coronavirus patient or visited affected countries in the last 14 days.

Aarogya Setu was developed under a committee set up by the Prime Minister's Office with the involvement of Niti Aayog and Ministry of Electronics and IT. It alerts people if any known or person in their vicinity has tested positive.