New Delhi, Jan. 5 -- In the bustling digital bazaar of India's creator economy, valued at Rs.4,500 crore in 2025, a startling subculture of 'digital beggars' has emerged. These are not street performers or skilled influencers but ordinary individuals who go live on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook for hours, sitting in drab rooms with a QR code plastered on screen, waiting for UPI notifications like "Received Rs.10 on Paytm".

No dances, no skits, no aesthetic backdrops-just raw pleas for micro-donations from thousands of viewers. Pleas that bring in instant money, and at times throw up the risk of donors' vulnerability to cyber crime.

This 'digital beggar' phenomenon has snowballed, turning "buy me a coffee" tip jars into a full-blown pa...