Pathao Welcomes Differently Able Riders

I sometimes get Pathao notifications alerting me about the traffic in Kathmandu right when I am leaving my office in the evening. And below these notifications is the hashtag #WeShareBecauseWeCare. The cynic in me immediately smirks at the hashtag. It thinks, “You share, but I doubt you care.”

Today, the cynic within me is a little hurt. Because Pathao showed that they really do care this past Wednesday. How? They enlisted 7 physically impaired people as Pathao Riders.

Pathao has been in talks with the National Federation of the Disabled- Nepal to explore different ways in which Pathao can help the physically impaired people to be financially independent. Pathao is thinking of increasing the number of physically impaired riders from 7 to 15 within this month.

The Regional Director of Pathao Mr. Asheem Man Singh Basnyat said that this one month will be a pilot phase where Pathao will actively monitor the feedback from the differently able riders and the customers that take a ride with them. Pathao will further improve the service for the riders and the customers based on the feedback it receives.

How does Pathao view these different riders and what are the criteria for them to be enlisted?

This question is best answered by Mr. Asheem MS Basnyat himself. He says, “Pathao doesn’t differentiate between the normal riders and the differently able riders. The differently able riders go through the same validation process as the normal riders.”

This is an amazing humanitarian work from Pathao that needs to be applauded. They have given the differently abled people a new source of income and the same platform as their physically normal counterparts. One such differently able rider has already given 15 rides to people in the valley. An engineer in Nepal who couldn’t get a job as an engineer because of his disability now finally has become independent. Rarely any service can claim a feat similar to this.

We hope that this endeavor from Pathao will inspire other companies and startups from Nepal to invest in exploring the many ways in which they can accommodate people from various walks in life. We hope we will keep hearing news like this not just from Pathao but other companies too.