In good news for international travellers, the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) has announced that travellers can use e-boarding passes displayed on their smartphones during immigration clearance at Indian airports, as the procedure of physically stamping these documents has been eliminated. The step aims to reduce passenger inconvenience and simplify the immigration process at airports.
E-boarding pass on smartphone
Under the new system, passengers travelling abroad will be required to show their e-boarding pass on their smartphone for immigration clearance. This means passengers will need to store their digital boarding pass on their mobile phones.
However, this does not mean that physical boarding passes will be completely discontinued. If a passenger has a paper boarding pass, it will be accepted at the airport, but immigration officials will not stamp it.
Stamping was causing problems for passengers
According to officials, many passengers faced inconvenience because of the process of affixing immigration stamps to physical boarding passes. In many cases, the stamps were not properly applied or were applied incorrectly, making the boarding passes unreadable.
In light of these problems, the Bureau of Immigration (BOI), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, reviewed the system and decided to eliminate the mandatory stamping of physical boarding passes.
CISF also does not put stamps on boarding passes
Security officials said that CISF does not stamp the boarding passes of international passengers during personal security checks. Passengers are required to show their boarding passes only for security and immigration clearance. The CISF discontinued the practice of stamping boarding passes for both domestic and international passengers several years ago.
Preparations underway to abolish immigration stamping
This is considered another important step towards the government’s digitalisation. According to officials, plans are also underway to eliminate immigration entry and exit stamps for Indian passport holders. A pilot project will be conducted before implementing this system. If the pilot project is successful, it could be implemented at other airports across the country. The measure is expected to be operationalised across Indian airports soon.
Ladakh mulls single permit for foreign tourists
Meanwhile, the Ladakh administration is exploring a single protected area permit (PAP) for foreign tourists across the union territory, except in specifically restricted areas, to streamline clearance procedures while balancing tourism convenience with security requirements, officials said on Monday.
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