Context:

  • Recently it was found that security personnel and private staff were collecting facial biometrics at airport entry gates without the consent or knowledge of passengers for Digi Yatra app purpose.
  • Passengers said that CISF personnel at the entry gate of passenger buildings were asking travellers to scan their boarding pass and capturing their photos, after which they would provide consent on behalf of the passengers for registering for Digi Yatra without taking permission or even informing them.

About Digi Yatra:

  • The initiative aims to promote digital processing of passengers for paper­less and seamless movement through various checkpoints at the airports such as the entry gate, security check area and boarding gate etc.
  • The Digi Yatra policy was launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2018 as an entirely voluntary programme.
  • It was finally rolled out from December 2022 at three airports which include Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
  • Currently, it is present at 13 airports, and will be expanded to 24 more airports in 2024.
  • The Digi Yatra app is not actually owned by the government, but owned by a consortium called the Digi Yatra Foundation whose shareholders comprise the Airports Authority of India and five private airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi.
  • At airports, passengers scan their boarding pass at an e­gate and look into a camera which captures their image.
  • Once the face verification is successful, the e­gate opens for the passenger.
  • This creates the passenger data­set which is a combination of their facial scan and PNR.
  • This data is then used as a single token at the remaining check points so that a passenger can simply walk through them with a mere facial scan without the need to produce a boarding pass.
  • The main aim is to improve operational efficiency and allow faster processing of passengers, allowing airlines to track delayed passengers and enhancing security by ensuring there is no exchange of passes among passengers or wrong boarding by the passengers.