Mandate Digi Yatra, stabilise airfare, avoid congestions, recommends Parliamentary panel

New Delhi [India], August 6 : A Parliamentary committee has made several recommendations, including stabilising airfares, mandatory adoption of Digi Yatra app and installation of baggage X-Ray machines for the modernisation of airports.
The Committee, which tabled the report in Rajya Sabha on Friday, recommended that an adequate number of X-Ray machines should be installed at airports for speedy security clearance of passengers.
Also, it recommended there should be mandatory adoption of Digi-Yatra at all airports for contactless terminal entry and security clearance. Further, the data of passengers collected by the Digi-Yatra app should be protected.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), the number of passengers travelling using Digi Yatra has reached 1.74 million by June 20.
Digi Yatra was launched on December 1, 2022. The initiative ensures faster mobility of passengers to boarding gates, hassle-free travel, enhanced security, and dedicated gates while being completely contactless, thereby saving time.
The country's largest airport had witnessed large-scale chaos earlier this year and last year, where passengers were left stranded at the airport for over an hour for security, customs and immigration clearance. Many passengers have aggressively blamed the government and the airport management system. Thus, the Parliamentary panel has recommended the installation of more X-ray machines for baggage.
The Committee recommends that action needs to be taken to popularize the Air-Sewa portal which is the complaint and grievance redressal portal of MoCA and also display "Rights of Passenger" prominently at airports. Further, proper compensation should be given to air passengers in case of baggage damage.
In the event of cancellation of flight, it said there should be timely payment of refund within a specified timeline.
Further, the Committee, headed by Rajya Sabha member Sujeet Kumar, has observed that there is a huge variation in the airfare of the same day, same airline and same flight and expressed concern about exorbitant air ticket charges by airlines.
India's aviation industry experienced skyrocketing airfares in the month of May to July, when the prices of air tickets went up unbridled.
“The Committee has observed that there is a huge variation in the airfare of same day, same airline and same flight and expressed concern about exorbitant air ticket charges by airlines. Therefore, to tackle this, the Committee recommends that there should be a mechanism in place to cap the higher and lower price of an air ticket and to ensure introduction of fair and transparent system of determination of air fare,” the committee report read.