Exclusive | India to roll out full-fledged Digi Yatra programme from December 1

To make air travel paperless and hassle-free, the Union civil aviation ministry will roll out a full-fledged Digi Yatra from December 1, 2022.

An initiative of the civil aviation ministry and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the first phase of Digi Yatra will begin on December 1 at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

The second phase will begin in March next year and four cities have been identified for the Digi Yatra programme. Following the second phase, Digi Yatra will spread across the entire country.

A pilot project is already underway at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

The facility seeks to minimise paperwork for air travel under a digital system or e-boarding process for airport entry and boarding flights using documents such as a passenger's Aadhaar number and mobile number, among others.

The airlines will make a provision to collect the Digi Yatra ID of the passenger for domestic travel as per Digi Yatra policy at the time of the booking irrespective of the channel, according to the norms.

The passenger will have the option to offer any one of the approved identification documents (ID) such as a passport, voter card, Aadhaar or m-Aadhaar, PAN card, driving licence, service photo identity card issued by state/central government, PSUs, local bodies or public limited companies, among others.

According to the DGCA, the Digi Yatra ID created will be authenticated during the first travel by the passenger at an airport that offers such a facility.

In the authentication process, the ID of the passenger will be verified and validated by an authorised security officer and this will activate the Digi Yatra ID.

At the same time, according to the norms, the airline will ensure that e-tickets are issued with a 2D/QR barcode following the "one person, one ticket and one code" rule so that each passenger, even in a group booking, is issued with an individual ticket having unique code. The airlines will also have to collect passport numbers for all international travel.

The airline operator and the airport operator shall comply with data protection and data privacy requirements as per the applicable regulations.