Digi Yatra: how face-based airport entry and boarding works in India

What Digi Yatra is

Digi Yatra is a Ministry of Civil Aviation initiative for domestic travellers. It aims to make the trip from the terminal entrance to the boarding gate faster with facial recognition ³. Travel details come from the QR code on the boarding pass, which follows IATA Resolution 792 ³. The ministry describes it as consent based, with opt-in and opt-out ³.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched it on 1 December 2022 at Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi airports ⁶. At airports run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Kolkata, Vijayawada and Pune followed on 1 April 2023 ³.

The government does not pay for it. In a December 2025 reply to Parliament, the Minister of Civil Aviation said no government funds had been sanctioned or released and that airport operators bear the cost ¹.

How it works for passengers

Passengers register in the Digi Yatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self image capture ⁶. Before a flight, the passenger scans the boarding pass in the app, and the credentials are shared with the departure airport ⁶.

At the airport, the passenger scans the boarding pass barcode at an e-gate. The facial recognition system checks identity and the travel document and opens the gate ⁶. AAI material lists the touchpoints as terminal entry, the security holding area, transfer and the boarding gate ³. The system checks that the boarding pass is valid, looks for duplicate entry attempts, and flags passengers who arrive too early or too late at a touchpoint ³.

Passengers can enrol through the app or on the day of travel at kiosks, which AAI listed at four of its airports in 2024. AAI said its other Digi Yatra airports offered the same option at the terminal entry e-gates ³. The ministry says Digi Yatra cuts entry processing from about 15 seconds to about 5 seconds per passenger ².

Who runs it: the Digi Yatra Foundation

The Digi Yatra Foundation is a not-for-profit joint venture between AAI and private airport operators. AAI holds 26 percent ³. At launch in 2022, Business Today named the shareholders as AAI, Cochin International Airport, Bangalore International Airport, Delhi International Airport, Hyderabad International Airport and Mumbai International Airport ⁶.

In April 2024, questions arose over passenger data and a former vendor, Dataevolve Solutions. The foundation said the app had always been under its full control ⁵. It said Digi Yatra started on infrastructure provided by NITI Aayog, then moved to Dataevolve as managed service provider, and that Dataevolve handled only billing and account management and was no longer involved ⁵.

The digital rights group Access Now said the foundation is controlled by five airports, with AAI holding a minor 26 percent stake ⁵. Outlook Business reported both the foundation's statement and Access Now's comments ⁵.

Data rules and privacy

In March 2023, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said passengers' data is stored on their own device and not in central storage, encrypted in a wallet on the smartphone ⁴. It said airport systems purge passenger data within a day after the flight departs ⁴.

The foundation's chief executive, Suresh Khadakbhavi, said in April 2024 that the foundation holds no passenger data and that the data stays on the user's phone under the passenger's control ⁵. In May 2026, the ministry said data is shared with the departure airport only for a limited time, for verification ².

AAI material describes the system as built on privacy by design and privacy by default, and says it complies with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ³. The foundation's own website describes its approach as self sovereign identity ⁷.

Criticism and oversight

In March 2023, The Wire reported that the Ministry of Civil Aviation said Digi Yatra is not covered by the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The reason given was that a private non-profit body runs it ⁸. The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a digital rights group, says the foundation is a private Section 8 company and so falls outside the RTI Act even with 26 percent public ownership ⁹.

IFF says Digi Yatra has no law of its own behind it and no operative data protection rules ⁹. It points to a gap between the ministry's statement that airports purge data within 24 hours of departure and a Digi Yatra policy document that, by IFF's reading, lets airport operators keep travel data for 30 days ⁹. It says Section 17 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act lets the government exempt bodies such as Digi Yatra from parts of the Act ⁹. IFF has called for Digi Yatra to be withdrawn from Indian airports ⁹.

IFF reported that the ministry told it in an RTI reply that Digi Yatra is not mandatory ⁹. It cited a LocalCircles survey in which 29 percent of surveyed Delhi passengers said they had been signed up without realising it ⁹. The ministry and the foundation say the system is voluntary and that data stays on the passenger's phone ^3,45.

Airports covered

In a reply to the Lok Sabha on 18 December 2025, the Minister of Civil Aviation said Digi Yatra was available at 24 airports and would reach all airports in phases ¹. The reply listed usage at Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Pune, Cochin, Vijayawada, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati, Mopa Goa, Chennai, Dabolim, Indore, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Vizag, Raipur, Coimbatore, Ranchi and Bagdogra ¹.

On 30 May 2026, the ministry said Digi Yatra was active at 38 airports and that 27 more would be added by the following year ². The ministry said the app supported 11 languages, with plans for 11 more regional languages by the end of 2026 ².

How many people use it

The December 2025 reply gave app download totals of 3.8 million at the end of 2023, 9.28 million at the end of 2024 and 19 million by November 2025 ¹. In May 2026, the ministry reported over 24 million downloads and over 100 million journeys ².

The same reply broke down use by state. The five states with the most recorded uses in 2024 are shown below ¹.