Under DigiYatra, a passenger's face acts as a digital identity token, reducing the need for repeated document checks at various stages of the airport journey. Instead of repeatedly scanning boarding passes, travellers can move through designated checkpoints using biometric verification.

How the DigiYatra transit process works

• Passengers are required to upload an Aadhaar-verified selfie and their boarding pass to the DigiYatra app at least 48 hours before departure.
• There is, however, an important catch. Since a boarding pass is needed for the process, travellers will first have to secure a confirmed seat with their airline. In many cases, this may require paying an additional fee for seat selection before the boarding pass can be generated and uploaded.
• Upon arrival at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, or Hyderabad airports, passengers can use dedicated biometric e-gates.
• Facial recognition cameras will match the traveller's live image with an encrypted biometric template stored in the DigiYatra cloud.
• Once the identity is successfully verified, access to the international transit corridor will be granted automatically.
• Passengers will no longer need to repeatedly scan paper boarding passes during the transit process.
• The system is expected to speed up passenger movement and reduce congestion at key checkpoints within the airport.

The move marks another step in India's push towards paperless and technology-driven air travel. By replacing multiple rounds of manual verification with a single biometric identity, authorities hope to streamline the transit experience at some of the country's busiest airports.

For Indian travellers using these airports for international journeys, understanding the DigiYatra process in advance could help avoid last-minute confusion and ensure a smoother transit experience.