Fly abroad? DigiYatra trials for international departures may begin soon at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru airports | Today’s news
Good news for international flyers! The government is reportedly working on introducing Digi Yatra, a facial recognition-based system, to international passengers on departures from India. According to Hindustan Times, trials of the planned expansion will begin in Delhi and Mumbai, along with Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin.
Digi Yatra for international departures
The trials for Digi Yatra for international departures are scheduled to be held from October to December this year. The first phase of the trial is said to focus exclusively on departing passengers. It is likely to be available only at less risky touchpoints such as the terminal entrance, security checkpoints and boarding gates. Integration with immigration may follow at a later stage once the reliability of the system is fully proven, the report quoted a second official as saying.
Meanwhile, all inbound flights and existing emigration controls are expected to remain unaffected during the trial.
According to the Civil Aviation Ministry’s policy paper Digi Yatra, the immigration framework operates independently of the Digi Yatra boarding system. Automated border control is reportedly planned for a later stage.
The main difference between the two systems lies in identity verification. While domestic travel relies on Aadhaar e-KYC, international travel will use electronic passports.
How it will work
Passengers will be able to establish an international credential by scanning the first page of their e-passport. It would read its embedded chip through the smartphone’s Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology. It is reported that the stored image of the flyer on the chip would then be verified using a live selfie on the camera, allowing passage through a secure credential stored locally in the passenger’s phone wallet.
The Hindustan Times also reported that India had issued more than 17.3 million biometric passports by July 30, citing official parliamentary numbers.
How long can the rollout take?
Software upgrade work ahead of trial versions is still pending. An audit of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is also said to be conducted, the second officer added.
The upgraded application is said to be in final testing phase with vulnerability assessment and penetration testing by CERT-In and Standardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC).
In addition, air travel rules and regulations, such as the mandatory requirement to present passports to enter airports, are also likely to be changed prior to implementation. These guidelines are set by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Civil Aviation Authority.
While international travel is considered a sensitive border-crossing process, Digi Yatra Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Suresh Khadakbhavi assured that negotiations with the authorities are going well. They are also reportedly in talks with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) ICAO and the EUDI pilot under the APTITUDE cohort to make the Digi Yatra ecosystem interoperable.
Earlier this month, the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) announced that E-Boarding Passes are now accepted at all immigration counters as stamping is no longer mandatory.
