Airports are now seeking Aadhaar check-ins
In what appears to be a natural progression following the Railways' push for Aadhaar-based identification, airports are now mulling on introducing the same practice to ease their burden. In order to improve security and facilitate swift check-in services, domestic airports are trying to make an Aadhaar-enabled entry for travelers a norm, rather than an option. Here's all you need to know about it.
The process has already started
Previously, the documents required for an entry to the airport were the issued tickets and any identity card issued by the government. Indian airports are now trying to follow the example of Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports and make Aadhaar mandatory for identification in their e-boarding facility. Manual check-in has been kept as a fallback option in case of technical failures or passenger delays.
Significant improvements noticed due to Aadhaar-enabled entry system
The Hyderabad airport spokesperson informed Mint that, "E-boarding has improved the passenger throughput outcome at the boarding gates by 30% and performance of the security frisking area by 20%." In Bengaluru airport, check-in time has shortened to 10 minutes from 25 minutes and the spokesperson informed Mint, "With biometric entry, we are creating a quicker throughput of passenger flow and enhancing experience."
Vijayawada and Baroda airports are next in line
Baroda and Vijayawada airports suffer congestion issues as they operate above their capacity and will soon go the Aadhaar-way to handle passenger traffic. The number of air passengers in recent times has hit a 100-million-mark in India and as airfare becomes more affordable, pressure increases in double digits. Airports at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow and Kozhikode are now struggling to keep up the pace.
DigiYatra initiative is getting a much needed boost
The concept of DigiYatra, which aims at making travelling a paper-less affair is now being fast-tracked by the government. Civil Aviation minister, Jayant Sinha said, "The whole experience would be completely digital...you wouldn't need any paper to book your car to the airport, get into the airport, get a digital boarding pass, board your aircraft...all of that just with your phone."
What about privacy though?
A few days back, over 13 crore Indians have been affected by the latest Aadhaar related leaks, in which around 10 crore people's bank-account details were compromised. The report suggests that these leaks were a result of poor security measures in government portals. The government needs to bolster its home turf first, before taking radical steps in making Aadhaar the solve-all for Digital India.
