The Ministry of Civil Aviation recently convened its Consultative Committee meeting to deliberate upon ‘DIGI YATRA’, a revolutionary project aimed at redefining the passenger experience at airports across India. This initiative draws upon advances in Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) to ensure contactless, seamless screening of passengers.
About DIGI YATRA
DIGI YATRA is an innovative endeavor that envisages passengers traversing through numerous checkpoints at an airport in a contactless and paperless manner. At its core, it leverages facial features as a method of identity verification, effectively linking this data to the boarding pass. The resultant product is a decentralized, mobile wallet-based identity management platform that provides an economic solution without compromising on privacy and data protection standards.
The Digi Yatra Foundation
In 2019, the Digi Yatra Foundation was established under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. Acting as a joint venture (JV) company, its primary objective was to create the Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem (DYCE). Operating pan-India, the foundation will act as the custodian of the Passenger ID validation process, ensuring consensus among various aviation stakeholders in the country. Apart from shaping compliance criteria and guidelines for local airport systems, the foundation also plays a key role in driving forward the Digi Yatra initiative.
Implementation of DIGI YATRA
This innovative undertaking is set to make its debut at Varanasi and Bengaluru airports in August 2022, marking the beginning of its first phase. Five additional airports: Pune, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Delhi, and Hyderabad are projected to adopt this system by March of the following year. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will determine the subsequent airports where Digi Yatra will be gradually implemented.
Objectives of DIGI YATRA
The primary objective of the DIGI YATRA initiative is to revolutionize the passenger experience at airports, offering a simple and hassle-free journey for all air travelers. By utilizing a digital framework, it aims to maximize the throughput of existing infrastructure while minimizing operational costs.
By digitizing current manual processes, DIGI YATRA seeks to enhance system efficiency and improve performance levels, further tightening security standards at airports across the country.
An integral part of this project is the rollout of the “Digi Yatra” system – an innovative digital ID backed by a strong, government-issued identity like AADHAAR, adding another layer of credibility to this platform.
DIGI YATRA is an ambitious project that aims to redefine the aviation sector in India through a seamless and efficient passenger processing system that leverages advanced technology while maintaining privacy and data protection protocols. This radical step is set to usher in a new era of air travel within the country.