Digi Yatra Platform

The Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2017 has announced the policy on biometric based digital processing of passengers at airports called “Digi Yatra”. DigiYatra envisages a connected ecosystem enhancing the seamless travel experience for the passengers and simultaneously improving the security.

• Digi Yatra will facilitate paperless travel and avoid identity check at multiple points. Passengers will be automatically processed based on facial recognition system at check points like; entry point check, entry in to security check, aircraft boarding, Additionally this will also facilitate self-bag drop and check-in, using facial recognition to identify pax and data recall.
• Digi Yatra platform is built on 4 key pillars, like Connected Passengers, Connected Airports, Connected Flying and Connected Systems which can make it easy travel for passengers.
• At present, Bangalore airport has been awarded the work for implementation of DigiYatra. Similarly, at Hyderabad, barcode reader-based e-gates are in use. However, fully fledged DigiYatra implementation is yet to happen. The platform is likely to be in place completely by December 2019.
• Major issue for the implementation of DigiYatra is the digital literacy of the travellers. Also the infrastructural incapacity at the airports is incompetent at the present. The government has started the project without any prior surveys of the airports therefore the ground realities are lesser known to the policy makers.
• For the better implementation first government should prioritise the infrastructural supports to the airports and further increase the digital literacy among the travellers.