Border control at India airports: what happens to travellers and their data

Arriving: the steps at the border

From 1 October 2025 foreigners and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders must submit an e-Arrival Card, a digital disembarkation card, within 72 hours before they arrive. It can be filed on the Bureau of Immigration website, the Indian Visa website or the Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app ².

On arrival, travellers go to an immigration counter. For e-Visa holders, an officer captures biometric details at this point ¹. Indian nationals and OCI cardholders enrolled in the fast track programme can use e-gates instead ³. The embassy notice advises travellers to keep e-Arrival details accurate and current to avoid delays at immigration ².

Entry permission: e-Visa, fees and who needs it

India's e-Visa portal lists categories that include e-Tourist, e-Business, e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant, e-Student, e-Transit and e-Conference. The eligibility list on the portal named about 174 countries and territories when checked on 19 October 2026 ¹.

Applicants for e-Tourist and e-Business visas must apply at least four days before arrival. The e-Tourist visa comes in 30-day, one-year and five-year versions. Holders of one-year and five-year tourist visas may not stay more than 180 days in a calendar year. The passport must be valid for at least six months when the applicant applies ¹.

The fee depends on the applicant's country, plus a 3 per cent bank charge. It is not refundable. The portal warns against agents who promise speedy or express grants. Only indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa is official ¹.

The portal gives two different counts of entry points. Its FAQ says 33 designated airports and 19 seaports accept e-Visas. Its checkpoint list names 37 airports and 38 seaports ¹.

Biometrics and fast track e-gates

The e-Visa portal says biometric details of the applicant are captured at immigration on arrival in India ¹.

The Fast Track Immigration Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) began on 22 June 2024 at Terminal 3 of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. In January 2025 it spread to Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin and Ahmedabad. The Home Ministry plans to cover 21 major airports ³.

The first phase is free and open to pre-verified Indian nationals and OCI cardholders. Foreign travellers are planned for a second phase. Applicants register at ftittp.mha.gov.in and give biometrics at a Foreigners Regional Registration Office or at the airport. At the gate they scan a boarding pass and passport, and the e-gate checks their biometrics. Registration lasts up to five years or until the passport expires ³.

For domestic flights, DigiYatra lets passengers pass airport entry points by face. The civil aviation ministry said in May 2026 that it was live at 38 airports, with 27 more planned. It said passenger data stays encrypted on the user's own device and is shared with the departure airport only for verification ⁴.

Passenger data: PNR rules and the customs targeting centre

The Passenger Name Record Information Regulations, 2022 were issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on 8 August 2022 under the Customs Act, 1962. Every aircraft operator must send PNR data to the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger (NCTC-P). Data is due no later than 24 hours before departure, or at departure ⁵.

The regulations list 19 data fields. These include names, contact details, payment details, itinerary, baggage, seat and any API data collected, such as passport number and date of birth. The stated purpose is to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute offences under customs law ⁵.

Data may be kept for up to five years. After that it is depersonalised or anonymised. Data needed for an investigation, prosecution or court case is the exception. Processing that reveals race, ethnicity, religion or health is barred. The centre may share data case by case with other agencies in India or abroad. An annual independent audit is required ⁵.

Airlines had to register with the centre by 10 January 2025. Full operation started on 1 April 2025 for individual airlines and 1 June 2025 for airlines using a global distribution system. Fines run from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per breach ^5,6.

Watch lists and checks

The customs PNR rules exist for risk analysis against customs offences. Analysis of the data is limited to senior officers, at the rank of Additional Director General or above ⁵. The fast track programme admits only pre-verified travellers ³. The sources reviewed for this guide do not describe the watch lists that immigration checks query.

Your data: the DPDP Act and how to ask for records

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 was enacted on 11 August 2023 ⁷. The government notified the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 on 14 November 2025, with an 18-month period for phased compliance ⁸.

The Rules give people the right to ask a data fiduciary for access, correction, updating and erasure of their data. Fiduciaries must reply within 90 days. A four-member Data Protection Board takes complaints online. Appeals go to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) ⁸.

Section 17 of the Act lifts many duties where data is processed to prevent, detect, investigate or prosecute offences. It lets the central government exempt any state body it notifies in the interests of sovereignty, security of the state, public order and related grounds ⁷. Border and customs records may fall under these exemptions.

The customs PNR regulations set their own safeguards, including the five-year limit and audit rules ⁵.

Who runs the systems

The Bureau of Immigration runs immigration at the border and is the nodal agency for the fast track programme, under the Ministry of Home Affairs ^2,3. CBIC and its targeting centre receive PNR data ⁵. The Ministry of Civil Aviation oversees DigiYatra ⁴. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is the aviation security regulator under the Ministry of Civil Aviation ⁹.

Security screening on departure

A parliamentary standing committee reported in March 2022 that 64 of 118 operational airports had cover from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). It said 1,166 CISF posts were vacant and recommended CISF cover at all operational airports ⁹.

The committee called door frame and hand-held metal detectors obsolete and intrusive of passenger privacy. It recommended full body scanners, biometric screening and radiological detection equipment. It asked BCAS to finish a procedure for passengers with special needs ⁹.