Last Updated:January 09, 2026, 06:29 IST

The rider chose to work mostly after ten at night. Rapido offers a 20% incentive for rides between ten pm and six am, making late-night slots more rewarding than daytime hours.

Over four days, he rode mainly at night, sometimes starting in the evening and continuing past midnight. Image: X

It began as a simple experiment. A Bengaluru resident, curious about the buzz around gig work, decided to spend a few late nights riding for Rapido to see if the money really matched the hype. He was not looking to switch careers or become a full-time rider. He just wanted to know whether a few spare hours after work could actually make a difference to his monthly finances.

Four days later, he had more than just an answer. He had numbers, experiences and a reality check that soon went viral on Reddit, sparking a wider conversation about part-time work in the city.

Why he chose Rapido and the night shift

The rider chose to work mostly after ten at night. The reason was practical. Rapido offers a twenty percent incentive for rides between ten pm and six am, making late-night slots more rewarding than daytime hours.

Another detail that caught attention was his claim that Rapido was not charging any commission on rides at the time. While he admitted he was unsure if this was permanent or linked to regulatory issues around bike taxis, the zero-commission factor clearly boosted his take-home earnings.

For him, the goal was simple. Test whether a few hours on the road could actually translate into meaningful extra income.

How the four days unfolded

Over four days, he rode mainly at night, sometimes starting in the evening and continuing past midnight.

On the first day, he worked from six thirty in the evening to nine at night and earned Rs 170. Later, between eleven at night and one thirty in the morning, he earned another Rs 460. His total for around five hours of riding came to Rs 630.

On the second day, he stayed online for about five hours and earned Rs 750.

On the third and fourth days, he rode for roughly three to four hours each night and earned Rs 420 on both days. He noted that these days were slightly slower, with fewer ride requests compared to the earlier shifts.

By the end of the fourth day, he had enough data to calculate what part-time riding really meant in practical terms.

The final numbers

Across four days, the rider clocked a total of seventeen working hours. His gross earnings stood at Rs 2220. From this, he deducted fuel expenses of around Rs 400. That left him with a net profit of Rs 1820 for the entire period.

In simple terms, he earned just over Rs 100 per hour after accounting for petrol. For some readers, that sounded modest. For others, especially those struggling with stagnant salaries and rising living costs, it felt like a useful safety net.

When the internet joined the debate

The Reddit post quickly filled with comments from people living similar double lives.

One user shared that he works in an IT firm from two in the afternoon to ten at night, earning Rs 24000 a month. After his shift, he rides for Rapido from ten pm to six am. According to him, the money he makes on the bike often matches or even beats what he earns at his desk job.

Stories like these pushed the conversation beyond one person’s experience. They raised bigger questions about whether flexible gig work is slowly becoming more attractive than low-paying formal jobs, especially for young workers.

Who this kind of work suits best

The Bengaluru rider ended his post with a grounded conclusion. Rapido and similar platforms may not be perfect, but they work well for students, people from economically weaker backgrounds and those who have free hours late at night.

Lower traffic, higher incentives and the freedom to log in and log out without long-term commitment make gig riding easier to fit around studies or a regular job.

At the same time, he did not romanticise it. Long hours, physical strain and rising fuel costs remain real challenges. This is not easy money. But for many, it is better than having no extra income at all.

A glimpse of Bengaluru’s changing workforce

This four-day experiment reflects a bigger shift in the city’s work culture.

Bengaluru is no longer a place where one job defines a person’s identity. Today, the same individual can be a software employee by day and a bike captain by night.

The story of this part-time Rapido rider is not just about earnings. It is about how people are stitching together livelihoods in a city where ambition often moves faster than paycheques.

And in those late-night rides through quieter streets and glowing phone screens, many are finding not just fares, but a new way to stay afloat.

Why he chose Rapido and the night shift

The rider chose to work mostly after ten at night. The reason was practical. Rapido offers a twenty percent incentive for rides between ten pm and six am, making late-night slots more rewarding than daytime hours.

Another detail that caught attention was his claim that Rapido was not charging any commission on rides at the time. While he admitted he was unsure if this was permanent or linked to regulatory issues around bike taxis, the zero-commission factor clearly boosted his take-home earnings.

For him, the goal was simple. Test whether a few hours on the road could actually translate into meaningful extra income.

How the four days unfolded

Over four days, he rode mainly at night, sometimes starting in the evening and continuing past midnight.

On the first day, he worked from six thirty in the evening to nine at night and earned Rs 170. Later, between eleven at night and one thirty in the morning, he earned another Rs 460. His total for around five hours of riding came to Rs 630.

On the second day, he stayed online for about five hours and earned Rs 750.

On the third and fourth days, he rode for roughly three to four hours each night and earned Rs 420 on both days. He noted that these days were slightly slower, with fewer ride requests compared to the earlier shifts.

By the end of the fourth day, he had enough data to calculate what part-time riding really meant in practical terms.

The final numbers

Across four days, the rider clocked a total of seventeen working hours. His gross earnings stood at Rs 2220. From this, he deducted fuel expenses of around Rs 400. That left him with a net profit of Rs 1820 for the entire period.

In simple terms, he earned just over Rs 100 per hour after accounting for petrol. For some readers, that sounded modest. For others, especially those struggling with stagnant salaries and rising living costs, it felt like a useful safety net.

When the internet joined the debate

The Reddit post quickly filled with comments from people living similar double lives.

One user shared that he works in an IT firm from two in the afternoon to ten at night, earning Rs 24000 a month. After his shift, he rides for Rapido from ten pm to six am. According to him, the money he makes on the bike often matches or even beats what he earns at his desk job.

Stories like these pushed the conversation beyond one person’s experience. They raised bigger questions about whether flexible gig work is slowly becoming more attractive than low-paying formal jobs, especially for young workers.

Who this kind of work suits best

The Bengaluru rider ended his post with a grounded conclusion. Rapido and similar platforms may not be perfect, but they work well for students, people from economically weaker backgrounds and those who have free hours late at night.

Lower traffic, higher incentives and the freedom to log in and log out without long-term commitment make gig riding easier to fit around studies or a regular job.

At the same time, he did not romanticise it. Long hours, physical strain and rising fuel costs remain real challenges. This is not easy money. But for many, it is better than having no extra income at all.

A glimpse of Bengaluru’s changing workforce

This four-day experiment reflects a bigger shift in the city’s work culture.

Bengaluru is no longer a place where one job defines a person’s identity. Today, the same individual can be a software employee by day and a bike captain by night.

The story of this part-time Rapido rider is not just about earnings. It is about how people are stitching together livelihoods in a city where ambition often moves faster than paycheques.

And in those late-night rides through quieter streets and glowing phone screens, many are finding not just fares, but a new way to stay afloat.

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High street shops, pharmacies and music venues have called on Rachel Reeves to axe the looming increases to business rates for them as well as pubs.

The government is expected to announce a climbdown on the increases to business rates bills faced by pubs in England in the coming days.

Landlords and pub owners have been fiercely critical of the impending hikes, with more than 1,000 pubs banning Labour MPs from their premises.

But other lobby groups and backbench MPs have urged the government to widen the relief, saying many other kinds of businesses will not be able to pay the higher bills.

In her November Budget, the chancellor scaled back business rate discounts that have been in force since the pandemic from 75% to 40%, and announced that there would be no discount at all from April.

That, combined with big upward adjustments to rateable values of pub premises, left landlords facing the prospect of much higher bills.

The BBC understands the climbdown will apply only to pubs and not the whole hospitality sector.

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) questioned why its members -– which include high street shops, restaurants and cafes — would not be given the same relief.

Its chief executive Andrew Goodacre said independent retailers “face exactly the same challenges as pubs but have been left out of discussions about additional support”.

“Perhaps independent retailers need to follow the pubs’ example and start banning MPs from their premises too,” he said.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the current business rates system “is not fit for purpose”.

Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive, said: “This latest announcement looks like another sticking plaster on a broken system rather than the more fundamental reform required.”

Jon Collins, chief executive of music venue body LIVE, said: “If the government is preparing a U-turn on business rates for pubs, it must not leave live events and arenas behind.”

The National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg said the sector could face a 140% increase in rates, while the lobby group for gyms, pools and leisure centres said those businesses faced potential rate increases of 60%.

“Failure to provide a business rates support package to gyms, pools and leisure centres will lead to higher prices, reduced services, redundancies and in some cases the loss of gyms from our communities,” chief executive of ukactive Huw Edwards said.

Some of those lobby group concerns were echoed by MPs.

“Venues, clubs and cinemas up and down the country are already struggling for survival,” Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage wrote to the chancellor on Thursday.

She said the planned rates reforms risk “pushing many over the edge”.

“The Treasury needs to be open about how it decided on the changes, while the sector desperately needs more details on the alternative support promised by the Prime Minister.”

Reeves said earlier this week that the government had reduced the rate of tax on pubs and hospitality, but the Independent Valuation Office increased what they saw as the value of those properties.

“Now we’re working with the sector to look at the implications of a range of policies and looking at planning and licensing,” she said in an interview with Good Morning Britain.

“I want to support our pubs; I want to support our high streets. That’s why we made the change to the rates. But I recognise that many paths are still struggling and we’re working with them.”