What Is DigiYatra and How Will It Work?

Context:

More than 1.6 Lakh air travelers have taken benefit of Digi Yatra.

Relevance:

GS II: Government Policies and Interventions

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is DigiYatra and how will it work?
2. How can people avail the DigiYatra facility?

What is DigiYatra and how will it work?

• DigiYatra envisages that travellers pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing, using facial features to establish their identity, which would be linked to the boarding pass.
• With this technology, the entry of passengers would be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at all checkpoints – including entry into the airport, security check areas, aircraft boarding, etc.
• In the first phase, the initiative will be launched at seven airports, starting with three — Delhi, Bengaluru, and Varanasi, followed by four airports namely Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada by March 2023. Subsequently, the technology will be implemented across the country.

Implementation:

• The project is being implemented by the DigiYatra Foundation — a joint-venture company whose shareholders are the Airports Authority of India (26% stake) and Bengaluru Airport, Delhi Airport, Hyderabad Airport, Mumbai Airport and Cochin International Airport.
• These five shareholders equally hold the remaining 74% of the shares.

How can people avail the DigiYatra facility?

• For availing the service, a passenger has to register their details on the DigiYatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self image capture.
• In the next step, the boarding pass has to be scanned, and the credentials are shared with airport authorities.
• At the airport e-gate, the passenger has to first scan the bar coded boarding pass and the facial recognition system installed at the e-gate will validate the passenger’s identity and travel document.
• Once this process is done, the passenger can enter the airport through the e-gate.
• The passenger will have to follow the normal procedure to clear security and board the aircraft.
• Facial recognition technology is beneficial as it makes flying more convenient and reduces congestion at airports.
  • The facial recognition system at various airports across the globe, including Dubai, Singapore, Atlanta and Narita (Japan), have helped bring in efficiency.

-Source: Indian Express