Aadhaar All Set To Replace Boarding Pass For Air Travel; Govt. Aims To Implement Fully Paperless Air Travel Soon!

In few months time, this shall be the new scenario for air travellers:

– Step 1: Show your mobile and Aadhaar card for getting entry into airport

– Step 2: Show your Aadhaar Card, instead of Boarding Pass, and get pass through Security check

– Step 3: Experience paperless air travel: Digi Yatra

Govt. of India has now decided to extend the scope of Aadhaar Card, and introduce it in Air Travel as well. Under the new premise of ‘Digi Yatra’, translated into Digital Travel, all you would need is your mobile phone to travel anywhere in the country, using air-mode.

Logically, Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha explained: “Your payment is digital, your boarding and security interactions are digital… That is the digi yatra concept we are working on,”

Questioning the very need for paper anywhere in the journey, the Minister explained: “.. You would be able to book your car to the airport, get to the airport, get a digital boarding pass, board your aircraft, take a car way back and do all of that just with your mobile phone..”

The difficulty, as the Minister informed, lies in forming a uniform platform, wherein an Aadhaar Card would be enough to ensure air travel without any paper. For instance, Govt. is working on how to make all airlines follow the concepts of Aadhaar based boarding pass, and how to incorporate Airport into the whole system.

And, it is still not clear, whether Aadhaar would be now compulsory for air travel or not.

Govt. to Supreme Court: PAN will not be invalidated retrospectively for not linking with Aadhaar

Meanwhile, Govt. has informed the Supreme Court that PAN card would not be cancelled retrospectively, in case it is not linked with Aadhaar.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, while representing Govt. in Supreme Court regarding a case challenging the mandatory status of Aadhaar Card said, “It will be invalid from 1 July 2017 and not from when you had applied for a PAN number,”

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, who is representing the petitioners, challenged Govt. by stating: “Aadhaar linkage is only for an individual assessee and not for companies, firms etc. The consequences of non-compliance are draconian,”, adding, “Aadhaar is a right that a citizen is entitled to. There is no duty cast upon him to obtain one,”

Last week, Supreme Court had directly questioned Govt., when they asked why Aadhaar has been made as a mandatory requirement when the Apex Court has already passed the order to make it an optional requirement. Very soon, Supreme Court will announce its verdict on Govt. decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing Income Tax returns and for linking it with PAN Card.

We will keep you updated as we receive more updates on this case.