GURUGRAM: If you have ever felt guilty or angry at yourself for having left a valuable item behind in a cab after a commute, get out of it. You’re not the only one. From mobile phones to keys to grandmothers’ photo frames, Indians leave behind an interesting mix of items in cabs, says a recent report.
The most unusual items Indian riders leave behind in cabs include cricket batting pads, gold bracelets, photo frames of their grandmother, LCD TVs, children’s tricycles, children’s tent houses, mosquito nets, poker sets, cat harnesses, and, would you have ever guessed it — giant freshwater prawns (gawlda chingri), a Bengali delicacy. And the most forgetful time, says Uber’s lost and found index for 2018, is weekends.
According to the cab aggregator, India topped the Lost and Found chart in the
Asia Pacific region, followed by
Australia and Philippines. Nationally, Bangalore held on to the title of the most forgetful city from last year, followed by Delhi and Mumbai.
“As we approach mercury retrograde — that time of the year believed to spur bouts of forgetfulness — this index recognises Uber’s most forgetful riders, and may even remind them to do a ‘possession pat down’ before leaving the car on their next ride,” said
Sanjay Gupta, head of marketing, Uber India and
South Africa.
The report was prepared by studying data on lost items in cabs across multiple markets globally.
In India, the most commonly lost items include cell phones, bags, wallets, keys/key cards/locks, clothing, ID/licenses/passports, eyewear, bottles, umbrellas and jewelry. The report further states that the riders are most likely to forget an item between 1pm-4pm, followed by 5am-6am. One is least likely to leave behind items between 10am and 5pm.
Interestingly, across India, New Year’s Eve is one the most forgetful days for Uber riders, along with September 16.
In fact, Uber has even tabulated the most forgetful times of the day for commuters in Delhi — 4am-5am and 1pm-3pm, especially on Fridays and Mondays — as well as the most forgetful dates — June 27, July 18, September 16 and December 31. So now you know which periods you need to be most cautious.
The good thing is, if you have lost an item in a cab, there is a way to trace it back using the Uber app. It can be done by accessing the “report an issue with this trip” option, and tapping on “I lost an item”, says Uber.
“With India emerging as the most forgetful country in the
Asia-Pacific, and Bangalore continuing to be the most forgetful city, our goal is to sustain our efforts in educating riders about in-app options, should they need to retreive something they lost in an Uber cab,” said Gupta.
