‘How can an engineer be so dumb?’: He bought a ₹1.75 lakh e-rickshaw for extra income, but the side hustle went wrong on day 1
For a corporate employee looking to build a second source of income, the plan sounded simple: buy an e-rickshaw, hand it over to a driver and earn a fixed amount every day without having to leave his job.But according to an account shared on social media, the plan went wrong almost as soon as it began. The e-rickshaw, reportedly bought for ₹1.75 lakh, was allegedly taken away by the driver on the very first day – leaving the engineer searching for both the vehicle and the man he had entrusted it to.The incident was shared on X by Gaurav Tomar, who said the engineer was his colleague and had been working in the corporate sector for around 12 years. Tomar’s post has since triggered a wider discussion online about side hustles, trust and the need to verify people before handing over valuable assets.According to Tomar, the idea came from an office peon who suggested buying an e-rickshaw and giving it to a driver on rent.“Buy an E-Rickshaw, give it to someone, and take Rs. 500 to 700 rent per day. You will also save on your own commute,” Tomar quoted the suggestion in his post.The engineer apparently decided to try the idea. He asked the office peon to find a driver, who, according to Tomar, recommended a man from Bihar.“So he told the office peon, fine, find someone. The peon suggested a man who came from Bihar. Then he bought an e-rickshaw for 175000/- and gave it to him at Rs. 600 per day,” Tomar wrote.The arrangement, however, did not last even a day.“The man took it and ran away the same day. He has been looking for him for 15 days now, and still has not found him,” Tomar claimed.The post quickly drew attention because the proposed side business itself was relatively straightforward: the owner would receive ₹600 a day while the driver operated the vehicle. At that rate, the daily rental would amount to about ₹18,000 over 30 days, before accounting for costs, maintenance or periods when the vehicle might not operate.But instead of beginning a steady stream of additional income, the owner was allegedly left with a ₹1.75 lakh loss and a missing vehicle.Tomar’s opening reaction was blunt: “How can an engineer be so dumb after 12 years in a corporate job?”That line, however, became only one part of the online debate. Several people questioned whether the driver had been properly verified before being handed the vehicle.One user asked, “Don’t they have registration info and can be tracked? It’s a theft crime can happen to your car also.” Another asked, “He didn’t take his Aadhaar?” A third commenter argued that the basic business idea was not necessarily the problem. “Idea is not dumb, but the execution is,” the user wrote, adding that when hiring a driver, people generally collect documents such as the original driving licence, Aadhaar copy and address proof.Others took a less judgmental view of the engineer’s decision. One commenter wrote, “Trusting someone known is not dumb.”Another pointed to the difference between professional and informal environments, saying, “12 years of corporate job equates to 12 years of being around a high-trust environment/people.”The episode also highlights the gap between the apparent simplicity of a side hustle and the practical risks involved in managing an income-generating asset. Buying an e-rickshaw and renting it out may look like a relatively hands-off way of generating additional income, but the owner still has to deal with the person operating the vehicle, documentation, payments and the possibility of loss or misuse.Importantly, the details circulating online remain based on the social-media account.The online conversation has moved beyond whether buying the e-rickshaw was a “dumb” idea – and towards a more practical question: how much verification is enough before trusting someone with an asset worth ₹1.75 lakh?
