Mumbai ends Delhi’s run as most forgetful city; wedding saree, gold biscuit among unique items left behind in Ubers in 2024
Gurgaon: Uber today released the 9th edition of its Lost and Found Index, a snapshot of the most frequently forgotten items, the most forgetful cities, as well as the days of the week and times of the year when Uber riders tend to be most forgetful.
Mumbai edged out Delhi to bag the title of the most forgetful city in the country, ending the National Capital’s two-year run at the top. Pune jumped up two places to end 2024 as the 3rd most forgetful city, even as Bangalore dropped a place to 4th. Kolkata made an entry into the ‘top 5’, claiming a spot as the 5th most forgetful city during the year gone by. Backed by insights and data, Uber’s Lost and Found Index aims to educate riders in a fun yet informative manner about in-app options available to them at the tap of a button, in case they lose or forget something in their Uber during their trip.
Over the last year, objects including bags, earphones, phones, and wallets topped the list of items left in Ubers across India, followed by spectacles, keys and clothing. Jet-lagged Indians also made a habit of forgetting their passports in Ubers during 2024.
In terms of unique items left behind in Ubers, a rider forgot their wedding saree, while another forgot a gold biscuit. Forgetting either of those two items in a street-hailed vehicle with no option to retrieve it could have been a big jolt to both. A rider forgot 25 kilograms of ‘cow ghee’ in their Uber, while another forgot their cooking stove – both of those losses had the potential to ruin dinner plans.
Commenting on the Index, Shiva Shailendran, Director – Consumer and Growth, Uber India South Asia, said, “We’ve all been there – that facepalm moment when we realised we forgot a cherished belonging in a cab. At Uber, we’ve made it easy to retrieve lost items with just a few steps in our app. We appreciate the trust our riders place in us each time they choose Uber, and we believe it’s the perfect moment to offer a quick refresher on how to recover items left behind.”
Analyzing the patterns:
- Saturdays were the peak days for Uber riders to forget their belongings.
- Red-colored items were the most commonly forgotten in Ubers, followed by blue and yellow.
- The likelihood of forgetting items increases in the evenings, with 7 PM being the prime time for such occurrences.
- Samsung device users were notably more prone to forgetfulness over the past year.
- The highest number of items left in Ubers occurred on festive days.
- Among major cities, riders from Hyderabad were the least likely to forget their items.
Below is the snapshot of insights from Uber Lost and Found Index India 2025:
Top 10 Most Commonly Forgotten Items
- Backpack / bag
- Earphones / speaker
- Phone
- Wallet / purse
- Spectacles / sunglasses
- Keys
- Clothing
- Laptop
- Water bottle / bottle
- Passport
Top 5 Most ‘Forgetful’ Cities (As a percentage of overall trips)
- Mumbai
- Delhi NCR
- Pune
- Bangalore
- Kolkata
Top 3 Most Forgetful Days of the Year
- August 3 (Saturday, Shivratri)
- September 28 (Saturday)
- May 10 (Friday, Akshay Tritiya)
Top 3 Most Forgetful Days of the Week: The Weekend
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Friday
The Most Forgetful Time of the Day for Indians: Evenings
- 7PM
- 8PM
- 6PM
Top 5 Colours of Forgotten Items
- Red
- Blue
- Yellow
Top 3 Phone Brands Left in Ubers
- Samsung
- Apple
- OnePlus
Top 10 Most Unique Lost Items
- Cow Ghee 25kg
- Wheelchair
- Bansuri (flute)
- Hair wig
- Gas burner stove
- Wedding saree
- Gold biscuit
- Telescope
- Ultrasonic dog bark control device
- Hawan kund (sacred fire altar)
Here’s a quick guide for riders looking for “Lost Items”:
- Tap on “Menu” icon
- Tap “Your Trips” and select the trip where you left something
- Tap “Report an issue with this trip”
- Tap “I lost an item”
- Tap “Contact my driver about a lost item”
- Scroll down and enter the phone number you would like to be contacted at. Tap submit
- If you lost your phone, enter a friend’s phone number instead
- Your phone will ring and connect you directly with your driver’s mobile number.
- If your driver picks up and confirms that your item has been found, coordinate a mutually convenient time and place to meet for its return to you
- If you are unable to connect with the driver, use ‘in-app support’ to report the loss, and Uber Support Team will step in to help you
