As Gurugram’s streets turned into rivers during last week’s heavy monsoon spell, online car-trading platform Cars24 floated a branded boat on one of the worst-hit roads. The company said the move was meant as pointed commentary — a dig at the city’s chronic waterlogging and the administration’s failure to fix it year after year.
The ₹50,000 Claim
Prachi Sharma, Cars24’s Head of Brand and Communications, posted about the stunt on LinkedIn, claiming traffic police arrived within minutes and slapped the company with a ₹50,000 fine for the boat. Her post framed the penalty as ironic: a company gets fined instantly for pointing out a problem that’s cost the city nothing for years while residents, she noted, had begun using boats simply to get home because rowing had become faster than driving.
Police Push Back
That claim fell apart under scrutiny. ACP (Traffic) Satyapal Yadav, when reached for comment, said the department had gotten no complaints and hadn’t issued any challans in connection with the incident and questioned whether the viral photo was even from this year.
Cars24 Walks It Back
Cars24 backtracked once the police denial surfaced. In a statement, the company clarified that the ₹50,000 figure had nothing to do with an actual traffic challan; no fine, it said, had come from any police authority. It admitted the campaign was handled irresponsibly, apologised to the Gurugram administration and police for the mix-up, and owned up to pinning an enforcement action on them that simply hadn’t happened.
The Bigger Point Still Stands
Fine or no fine, the underlying frustration hasn’t gone away — Gurugram’s flooding remains an annual crisis, and this episode has only put a sharper spotlight on it.
Also Read: Driving Through Flooded Roads? Here’s the Right Speed and 10 Precautions to Protect Your Car
Khushi Patel is a Senior Sub Editor at NewsX, covering automotive, technology, Lifestyle, entertainment, and mainstream news. She previously worked as a Copy Editor at Times Network and has written automotive editorial content, including comparison pieces, for TimesDrive.
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