A Mumbai auto driver who received Rs 15,682 instead of a Rs 156 fare is being praised online for what he chose to do next.
The driver, identified as Altaf in a LinkedIn post shared by a CEO, could have simply driven away after receiving the money. Instead, he stayed back and waited for the passenger to return.
That decision has turned a routine auto ride into a story that thousands of people are talking about online.
Why did the Mumbai auto driver wait after dropping off his passenger?
According to the CEO, he was rushing to meet an international client who was in Mumbai for just one day.
Running late for a 7 am meeting, he quickly paid for an auto ride using Google Pay before heading inside the building.
In the rush, however, he entered Rs 15,682 instead of Rs 156 and completed the transaction without noticing the mistake.
While Gune headed into the meeting, Altaf realised the amount that had landed in his account was far more than the actual fare.
Rather than leaving, he chose to wait.
What happened when the passenger returned?
The meeting did not go the way CEO had hoped.
He later described it as a missed opportunity and walked out feeling disappointed.
Outside, however, Altaf was still there.
The auto driver approached him and informed him about the payment error. He then returned the excess amount that had been transferred by mistake.
According to CEO's account, Altaf even refused to accept the original Rs 156 fare when he tried to pay him.
Instead, the driver reportedly told him:
"It's the start of the day for both of us, sir."
What happened after the refund?
For Gune, the story did not end with the refund.
Seven days after what he considered a disappointing client meeting, the international client reached out again and decided to move forward with working together.
But when the good news arrived, it was not the meeting he remembered first.
It was the Mumbai auto driver who had waited outside on a footpath early that morning, returned money that wasn't his, and asked for nothing in return.
Later, CEO sent Altaf Rs 500 as a gesture of appreciation, including the fare the driver had initially refused to accept.
