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Tanya Garg
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What is travel e-passport: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated in the Union Budget 2022 that India will issue e-passports with embedded chips shortly. This fiscal year, e-passports with embedded chips will be launched to make international travel easier. According to the finance minister, these chip-enabled e-Passports have advanced security features and would give citizens a better experience. The e-passports will protect biometric data and facilitate travel through immigration checkpoints around the world.
India.com spoke to Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO & Co-founder, ixigo, “International travel is likely to recover soon despite the progress being slowed by the current variant. The introduction of innovative initiatives like e-passports will boost security and will enhance the convenience of international travellers by cutting down long queues at immigration counters. This will help support a faster revival of international travel in a pandemic-driven environment. Extension of ECLGS will also provide additional support to the hospitality industry which has borne the maximum brunt of the pandemic. The current budget’s focus on modernizing infrastructure and expansion of highways under PM Gati Shakti will give impetus to intercity mobility by connecting major economic hubs and saving travel time for people.”
An e-Passport combines a chip-enabled passport with a biometric identity card to improve travel document transparency and security. In terms of application, verification, and information, it is identical to an ordinary passport.
The global tourism document with identity details such as passport number, name, middle name, national origin, and birth date, as well as an electronic microprocessor chip containing data such as biometrics, pictures, and signatures, is known as an e-passport, electronic passport, or biometric passport. Special equipment scans biometric passports.
India.com spoke to Vineet Verma, ED & CEO, Brigade Hospitality, who said, “It is definitely a step in the right direction when the entire world is going digital. Additionally, this technology with enhanced security features should help reduce instances of tampering.”
Despite the COVID-19 slowing pace, international travel is anticipated to rebound soon. Innovative measures such as e-passports will improve security while also improving the ease of foreign passengers by reducing long lines at the customs. Both the traveller and the travel document being presented can be compared to the biometric data in the electronic chip. In a pandemic-affected setting, this will aid in a speedier recovery of international travel.
It’s worth noting that the passport’s enhanced security measures will make it more acceptable to a broader range of countries. It also means that the number of countries to which an Indian passport holder can travel without a visa is expected to increase.
The procedure for applying for a new passport will not change, and the application form will not be altered. According to reports, the MEA would distribute e-passports to all 36 passport offices in India. The issuance procedure will likewise not change. Over 120 nations have already adopted the e-passport concept, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, which all have biometric e-passport systems.
As per Rohit Kapoor, CEO, India and South-East Asia OYO’s statement, “Rolling out E-Passports embedded with chips will make the Indian passport a powerful force in the world. The ball is now with India Inc. It remains to be seen if 2023 will prove to be a slam dunk year, as it promises to be.”
According to Travel Boutique Online, “The launch of the issuance of e-passports with embedded chips is a welcome move for the travel and tourism industry as it would ease international travel facilitating more people to travel abroad.”
To move away from printed booklets, the government will begin distributing them this year, which will include electronic chips. It will not be an entirely paperless document because operations such as visa stamping will continue, it will greatly minimise the requirement for paper by automating as much as possible.
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