Mumbai Police Shut Down Unauthorized Locker Service Run by Autorickshaw Driver Outside US Embassy

A Mumbai autorickshaw driver who recently went viral on social media for allegedly earning lakhs of rupees per month through a makeshift "locker service" near the US Embassy has now been barred from continuing the practice. Reports circulating online claimed the driver was earning as much as ₹8 lakh per month by offering to hold bags for visitors attending interviews at the American Consulate in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). The story gained widespread attention after a LinkedIn post by Rahul Rupani, a Product Lead at Lenskart, described his personal experience.

Rupani wrote: “When I went to the American Consulate, I was denied entry with my bag. This left me wondering where to keep it. Then an autorickshaw driver approached me and offered to safeguard it for ₹1000. He claimed this was his daily business. I later learned he earns ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 a day doing this.” The post quickly went viral, fueling widespread speculation about the driver’s income and sparking discussions around informal entrepreneurial ventures.

However, the driver at the center of the viral story has since denied the earnings attributed to him, stating that he makes only around ₹25,000 a month. Following the public attention, BKC Police summoned him for questioning and officially prohibited him from continuing the locker service, citing a lack of proper licensing. A senior official from BKC Police Station clarified, “The driver holds a license for passenger transport, not for operating a locker or storage service.” Authorities also identified 12 other individuals—reportedly residents of the nearby Bharatnagar slum—who are running similar informal storage services outside the embassy premises. The police have now begun cracking down on these unauthorized services, citing security and regulatory concerns. The incident has sparked debate about informal workarounds in urban India, especially in response to gaps in infrastructure at key public service locations.