For the past few days, a fascinating story of a Mumbai auto driver had taken the internet by storm, one that was hailed as a masterclass in street business. But that viral success story has now come to a sudden halt. The auto driver, who was reportedly earning Rs 5–8 lakh a month without even driving, is now back to doing what he originally did — ferrying passengers on the road.
It all started outside the US Consulate in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai, where this driver found a unique gap in the system. Visitors arriving for visa appointments are not allowed to carry bags inside the Consulate premises and there was no locker facility provided.
‘Sir, give me the bag, I will keep it safe’
That’s when the driver stepped in. “Sir, give me the bag, I will keep it safe. It’s my daily fare. Charge is Rs 1000,” he would say. This simple pitch, shared by Rahul Rupani, a product leader at Lenskart, on LinkedIn, soon caught fire online.
According to him, the driver catered to 20–30 customers daily, making Rs 20,000–30,000 a day. Multiply that over a month, and you’re looking at lakhs in earnings — all without any tech, app, or startup backing.
No MBA, no funding, just hustle
People celebrated it as a case of pure street-smart entrepreneurship. No MBA, no funding, no app. Just timing, understanding of need, and execution, Rahul wrote in his post, calling it a real-world lesson in hustle.
But as the buzz grew louder, so did the attention, including from the police. Officials at BKC police station were stunned when they heard of an auto driver earning lakhs just by keeping bags. Upon investigation, they found that this wasn’t a one-off case — around 12 auto drivers had been running similar locker-like services in the area, unofficially storing people’s bags.
Security concerns bring the business to a halt
The police, calling the practice a major security risk, especially near a sensitive zone like the US Consulate, have now shut it down. They also issued a strict warning, reminding the drivers that keeping people’s belongings without verification or licence isn’t just illegal, but potentially dangerous.
Interestingly, reports say that the auto driver wasn’t storing the bags in his vehicle alone. He had tied up with a local police personnel who allegedly had a private locker space nearby where the actual storage happened. The auto simply acted as the pickup point.
Back to square one
With the side hustle now dismantled, the auto driver is back to plying passengers. The story, though, continues to spark debate — was it clever business or a risky loophole?
Either way, it’s a sharp reminder of how India’s informal economy thrives on gaps until the system catches up.
