Good news for international flyers! The government is reported to be working to introduce , the facial recognition-based system, to international travellers during departures from India. The trials for the planned extension are said to begin with Delhi and Mumbai alongside Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin, as per Hindustan Times.
The trials for Digi Yatra for international departures are said to take place from October to December this year. Phase one of the trial is said to solely focus on departing passengers. It is likely to be only available at lower-risk touchpoints like terminal entry, security checkpoints, and boarding gates. Integration with immigration might follow in a later phase once the reliability of the system is fully proven, the report quoted a second official.
Meanwhile, all inbound flights and existing emigration checks are expected to remain unaffected during the trial.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Digi Yatra policy document, the immigration framework operates independently from the Digi Yatra boarding system. An automated border control is reported to be planned for a later stage.
The major difference between the two systems lies in identity verification. While domestic travel relies on Aadhaar e-KYC, international travel will use e-passports.
Passengers will be able to set up an international credential by scanning the first page of their e-passport. It would read its embedded chip via a smartphone’s Near-Field Communication (NFC). It is reported that the chip’s stored image of the flyer would then be verified with the live selfie on camera, granting passage via a secure credential stored locally in the passenger’s phone wallet.
Hindustan Times also reported that India has issued more than 17.3 million biometrically compliant e-passports till July 30, citing official parliamentary figures.
For now, the software upgradation work ahead of the trials remains pending. An audit by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is said to be conducted as well, added the second officer.
Reportedly, the upgraded app is at the final testing stage with a vulnerability assessment and penetration testing by CERT-In and Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC).
Additionally, rules and regulations for air travel, such as the mandatory requirement of showing passports for airport entry, are also likely to be amended ahead of the rollout. These guidelines are set by the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Bureau of Civil Aviation.
While travelling internationally is considered a sensitive border-crossing process, Digi Yatra chief executive officer (CEO) Suresh Khadakbhavi assured that talks with the authorities are progressing well. They are also said to be in discussion with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) ICAO, and an EUDI pilot trial 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.
