Lost and found, Bengaluru style: Airport staff trace techie’s bag via UPI in minutes

Tech professional Jaskaran Singh with airport staff member.

In a welcome departure from the usual narratives of infrastructural woes, a tale of quick-thinking and technological ingenuity at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has captured the public’s imagination, offering a potent reminder of the city's core strengths.

The incident involved a tech professional, Jaskaran Singh, who was travelling to the airport. Like many, he took a BMTC KIA shuttle bus, but in his haste, he disembarked without his backpack, only realising the loss moments before he was due to check in for his flight.

Faced with the daunting task of locating a single bag on a moving shuttle in a busy transport system, Singh turned to airport staff for assistance. The solution, however, was not in a manual search but in the digital footprint he had already left behind.

According to reports, the alert personnel, led by a staff member named Ravi, utilised the transaction history from Singh's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment for the shuttle fare. This digital record allowed them to swiftly identify the specific bus Singh had used, trace its location and retrieve the forgotten backpack, all within a matter of minutes.

The grateful traveller took to X to share his experience. “Staff traced the bus number using my UPI transaction and got my bag back,” Singh wrote. “Love how this tech city solves everything. Huge thanks to Mr Ravi for the help.”

forgot my backpack on a kia shuttle bus to bangalore airport and realized just before check-in. staff traced the bus number using my upi transaction and got my bag back. love how this tech city solves everything. huge thanks to mr. ravi for the help. #techcity#bangalorepic.twitter.com/lUR68JrdAE

— Jaskaran Singh (@dexter_2397) October 20, 2025

His social media post quickly went viral, sparking a wave of positive reactions and shifting the online conversation, if only temporarily, from Bengaluru's traffic and civic challenges to its capacity for efficient problem-solving.

The public response was overwhelmingly supportive, with one user commenting on the post, “That's such a relief! Kudos to the staff and the power of tech, only in Bangalore!” Another praised the city and it’s people, stating, “Jaskaran, Kannadigas are lovely humble people who welcome all. We just expect those visiting us or making Karnataka their home show some basic decency, learn local language, tradition. I hope you will, if you make Karnataka your home.”