23-year-old auto-rickshaw driver from Karnataka stuns his passenger by using his smartwatch to take payment

Bengaluru, located in the southern state of Karnataka in India, is renowned as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’ due to its status as the country’s primary exporter of information technology (IT) services. It stands as an aspirational destination for engineers and tech-savvy individuals across the nation. Even within this Indian IT hub, auto rickshaw drivers are adept at leveraging technology to their advantage.

A 23-year-old auto rickshaw driver hailing from Mandya, a city in Karnataka, left his passenger astonished by employing his smartwatch to process payments.

Chandan, the auto rickshaw driver, smoothly activated his smartwatch when a female passenger needed to settle her fare.

The smartwatch boasts a Quick Response (QR) code, which can be scanned using any online payment app for making transactions.

The female passenger, identified as @waabi_saabi on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), shared her experience online. She narrated that when her journey concluded and payment was due, the driver extended his wrist to awaken the smartwatch from its sleep mode. He then requested her to scan the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) QR code displayed on his watch.

Her post, accompanied by an image of the incident, included the hashtag “peak Bengaluru,” often used for posts relating to the city’s tech and startup culture, as well as unique incidents.

“In @nammayatri today, I met namma Tony Stark. Asked my auto driver for the QR code. Man flipped his hand and showed me his smartwatch. Turns out he’s saved the QR code as his smartwatch screensaver. So much swag, @peakbengaluru,” she wrote.

The woman had booked the auto ride through Namma Yatri, an auto-booking app.

Her post swiftly gained traction, amassing over 360,000 views, more than 7,500 likes, and 700 reposts at the time of writing.

Responding to her post, internet users flooded the comments section with positive remarks.

“I absolutely love hearing and telling these little observations that I have only experienced in Bangalore,” one user replied.

“I love to take autos and hear their stories heart out. It’s wonderful!” another user chimed in.

Additional responses included comments like “That’s why it’s called the Silicon Valley of India. There must be something unique” and “That is the kind of peak Bengaluru I like to see.”

Social media users showered the auto driver with praise, labeling him as a “Legend,” “Impressive,” and highlighting his contribution to “Digital India.”