Provider
Showkat Lone: the locksmith who never says no to a midnight call.
South Srinagar's most-booked locksmith built a one-man business across three categories. He says HelpRush is the first platform that promoted him by name.
By Editorial, HelpRush · 2 April 2026 · 6 min read
Showkat Lone keeps his rekey kit in the back of a battered Bajaj Pulsar. He has been a locksmith in Pampore for seven years. He picked up plumbing as a side trade four years ago and electrical work two years after that.
On HelpRush he is a PRO-tier pro across three categories. South Srinagar's most-booked locksmith. The first call when a Pampore family is locked out at 2 a.m.
The midnight calls
Last November Showkat took 11 calls between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. Lockouts mostly. The week of the December cold snap, he was the only locksmith on the platform who answered after midnight; everyone else had ticked vacation mode for the season.
His acceptance rate has not dropped below 92% in six months. Most pros sit between 60% and 75%.
“If a customer is standing in the cold with a baby, I am going. The phone tells me where, the platform handles the money. I just drive.”
Why he stayed
Showkat has a profile page now — helprush.in/pros/showkat-lone — that his repeat customers find directly. He does not pay for promotion. He does not buy a kit. The platform takes its 12% PRO-tier commission, and he keeps the rest.
Three of his Pampore-Awantipora regulars now book him for plumbing too, having found his electrical work first. Cross-category work was hard for an unaffiliated trade in a small town. The brand page made it possible.
What he wants from us
Better cold-weather tooling for the app — bigger touch targets when his hands are gloved. We're shipping it next sprint. Showkat will be the first user.