The ministry of civil aviation will begin using facial recognition technology at Varanasi and Bengaluru airports starting August 15 as part of its Digit Yantra project, the consultative committee meeting of the ministry decided Monday. The rest of the project, once implemented, will allow passengers to go through all airport check-ins and processes digitally and contact-free.
The technology being used at airports will recognize facial features to establish the passenger's identity, which will be linked to their boarding pass.
Union minister of civil aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia's office tweeted, “In a bid to digitize air travel in India… held a senior-level meeting of the consultative committee… to discuss Digit Yantra and its implementation. 1st phase of Digit Yantra is all set to be launched August 2022 at Varanasi and Bengaluru airports.” A statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) regarding the matter stated, In the first phase, Digit Yantra is proposed to be rolled out at two airports, namely Varanasi and Bengaluru, in August 2022, and at five airports, namely Pune, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad, by March next year. "The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will identify their airports where Digit Yantra would be implemented in phased manner," the statement added.
According to news agency PTI, Scindia said privacy issues have been addressed.
The civil aviation ministry said the project will use a ‘decentralized mobile wallet-based identity management platform’ that is cost-effective and addresses privacy and data protection issues.
The Digit Yantra Foundation (DYE) is a joint venture company looking to define the criteria for compliance and guidelines for the local airport systems from time to time and also conduct regular audits of guidelines on security, image quality and data privacy etc. defined by the Digit Yantra guidelines for the local Airport Biometric Boarding Systems (BBS), the statement said. DYE has been set up as a joint venture company in 2019 under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, wherein the Airports Authority of India holds 26 per cent shares while the private operators of airports in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Koch will own the remaining 74 per cent shares, it noted.
DYE will also develop consensus amongst the aviation stakeholders in India regarding this project, it mentioned. Mr Scindia stated on Twitter that he chaired a meeting of his ministry's Consultative Committee, comprising members from various political parties, on this project on Monday. In a statement, the civil aviation ministry said Digit Yantra provides for "decentralized mobile wallet-based identity management platform" which is cost-effective and addresses privacy and data protection issues.
It said Digit Yantra Foundation (DYE) will be a pan-India entity and the custodian of the passenger ID validation process under this project. New Delhi: The phase one of Digit Yantra project, which allows passengers to check in at the airport using facial recognition technology, will be kicked off at airports in Bengaluru and Varanasi on August 15,
Under the Digit Yantra project, a passenger will pass through various check points at the airport through a paperless and contactless processing, using facial features to establish the identity which would be linked to the boarding pass.
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