New Delhi, Jul 29 (IANS): Ride-hailing major Uber and Bajaj Auto on Wednesday announced they are partnering with auto drivers to install safety partitions just behind the driver seat in one lakh autos across the country to facilitate social distancing between drivers and riders.

Safety kits with face masks, hand sanitizers and vehicle disinfectants will also be distributed to 1 lakh auto-rickshaw drivers across 20 cities including New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Madurai, among others.

"Our partnership with Bajaj demonstrates our commitment to the safety of everyone who uses our platform. Over the coming few months, we will leverage our close ties to continue to instill confidence in our driver partners and provide peace of mind for millions of our riders,'' Nandini Maheshwari, Director, Business Development, Uber APAC, said in a statement.

Additionally, Uber has been leveraging its technology to provide drivers mandatory specialized training modules via the Uber app on the correct usage of PPE and sanitisation protocols for their vehicles.

"We are reaching out to more than 1 lakh drivers to install safety partitions and deliver disinfection kits irrespective of the make of the vehicle,'' added Samardeep Subandh, President, Intra-city Business, Bajaj Auto.

Uber recently launched a comprehensive set of safety measures, such as the Go Online Checklist, a mandatory mask policy for both riders and drivers, pre-trip mask verification selfies for drivers, mandatory driver education and an updated cancellation policy allowing both riders and drivers to cancel trips if they don't feel safe.