Facial recognition-based boarding system under trial in 6 airports: Govt to LS

A pilot project to test facial recognition technology at boarding points in airports is underway at six airports in the country, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh informed Lok Sabha. His statement came in the response of a question about use of new hi-tech improvement in India's civil aviation sector.

Ministry of Civil Aviation had introduced the Digi Yatra policy in August 2018 "to provide a contactless, seamless and paperless handling of passengers at airports from the entry gate of the terminal to the boarding point," Singh said.

"Work has been awarded for implementation of Biometric Boarding System (BBS) by using facial recognition technology at six airports namely - Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Varanasi and Vijayawada. The project is at the trial stage. Upon successful completion, the same will be implemented across other airports in the country in a phased manner," he added.

The minister also informed that Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to invest around ₹25,000 crore in next 4-5 years for expansion and development of existing and new terminals, using modern technology.

Singh, in a separate written reply, stated that the government has received Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) levy of ₹1,904 crore till now. A levy of ₹5,000 is collected per scheduled flight from airlines on certain routes to fund the regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

"Till now, a total of ₹1,904 crore has been received as RCF levy and viability gap funding (VGF) of an amount of ₹1,253 crore has been disbursed," the minister said.

In response to another question on whether the government is aware that many passengers have not yet received refund of credit shell amount from airlines for tickets cancelled during the lockdown year, Singh replied in the affirmative.

"Due to COVID-19 pandemic situation and consequent lockdown, air passengers had faced problems of cancellation of flights and refund for the tickets cancelled, he added.

When asked about Air India, the minister, in a separate written reply, said the airline's total revenues declined to ₹12,138.77 crore in 2020-21, while expenses jumped to ₹18,694.43 crore during the same period.

In another written reply, Singh said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has not prescribed guidelines specifying life for an aircraft to fly in India.

"There is no term as 'old aircraft' specified by DGCA. Aircraft are considered airworthy provided the maintenance is as per approved schedule laid down by the manufacturer," he added.

However, DGCA has laid down the age of aircraft intended to be imported into India.