Bhubaneswar: An Uber driver’s remarkable honesty in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar has gone viral, restoring faith in everyday integrity amid rising digital payment scams.
Debashis Tripathy, a Bhubaneswar-based software engineer, shared the heartwarming incident on X (formerly Twitter). While taking an Uber ride for work, he needed to send Rs 10,000 to a business contact. Due to a mix-up, both the contact and the driver shared the same name, he accidentally transferred the amount via Google Pay (GPay/UPI) to the driver.
After the ride, Tripathy realised the error but couldn’t contact the driver through the Uber app. He assumed the money was lost forever in an era where recovering mistaken UPI transfers often proves difficult.
Late that night, around 9:30 pm, his apartment security called. The Uber driver, identified as Srikanta, had driven back specifically to locate him and return the full Rs 10,000 in person.
Tripathy expressed deep gratitude in his post: “Yet another Uber story. Took a cab for some work and accidentally G-Paid the driver 10k instead of my business contact (they had the exact same name!). I couldn’t reach him through the app and figured the money was gone. Then at 9:30 PM, my apartment security calls. The Uber driver actually drove back to find me and refund every penny!” He added that the driver refused any reward for his efforts. “Rare to see this kind of honesty & integrity these days. Impressed with and grateful to Srikanta, who took this trouble for an unknown person.”
The story quickly spread across news outlets and social media, with users praising Srikanta’s integrity.
Check his post here:
Yet another Uber story.
Took a cab for some work and accidentally G-Paid the driver 10k instead of my business contact (they had the exact same name!). I couldn’t reach him through the app and figured the money was gone.
Then at 9:30 PM, my apartment security calls… (1/2)
— Debashis Tripathy (@deba1602) May 3, 2026
