THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Nothing can be more depressing than losing your valuables while travelling. Missingkart.com, a startup by two youngsters, is a solution to this issue and helps find lost valuables. The startup has collaborated with Thiruvananthapuram Division's Railway Protection Force (RPF) and is conducting a trial to locate articles lost reported in trains and railway station premises.
In an instance, a cop on duty found a bag which contained valuables worth D18 lakh. In 2018, RPF had found 482 valuables exceeding D1 crore and in 2019 from January to May, 135 passenger belongings were restored which were worth D37.98 lakh which included mobile phones, wrist watches, diamond studs.
“We have been getting frequent cases of lost valuables. An online platform like MissingKart.com will be helpful for passengers. Currently, we are running it on a trial basis and will be implementing it across all the railway stations after feedback,” said an RPF official. The startup was founded by Pradeep K and Hashir CP during the floods last year where they helped hundreds recover their lost items through the online platform.
“Hashir lost his baggage and had to struggle for a month to find his lost bag. On our visit to the Thiruvananthapuram Railway Station to claim the bag, we spotted a room full of lost materials from travellers. This gave us the idea to start the portal,” said Pradeep. Incubated at KSIDC Business Incubation Centre, UL Cyberpark, Kozhikode, the portal has received positive feedback. It gained more popularity when Nisha, a student from Kozhikode was able to find her mobile phone worth D17,000 through MissingKart.com.
How does it work?
A person who has lost belongings during their journey can report under the 'lost' category and the one who finds it can report it under the 'found' category in the website. MissingKart quickly matches the lost-found items and alerts the owner, thus helping in the discovery of the same with its unique matching algorithm. The owner can report to the relevant authorities and claim the items after verification. The owner's details will be recorded in the MissingKart database. Through the portal, more than 1,000 cases of lost and found items have been reported. The team is planning to develop a mobile application making it more accessible.