DigiYatra facility at Pune airport faces tech glitches

Pune: The DigiYatra service at Pune airport has run into rough weather within four days of its launch. Flyers have complained that the facility that offers passengers contactless, paperless check-in and boarding based on facial biometrics is often non-functional because of technical glitches.

Introduced by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Pune on March 31, the DigiYatra check-in counter was non-operational on Tuesday, according to passengers.

Arunagiri K, who travelled from Pune airport on Tuesday, said, “Authorities should address the technical glitches of DigiYatra mobile application. It was not working at the entrance and security check-in.”

Another passenger Rajagopalan Krishnan tweeted: “What’s the use of the fanfare behind #DigiYatra if only the kiosk doesn’t allow new registration and is under ‘Testing’?”

Pune is the fourth airport in the country to use the facial recognition system (FRS) of DigiYatra after it was implemented at Delhi, Varanasi and Bengaluru last year. The facility will be extended to other airports, including Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Kolkata, said AAI officials.

An AAI Pune spokesperson said, “We have noted passengers’ feedback and regret the inconvenience caused. There is a faster and convenient way of registering by using the DigiYatra App. You can do it from anywhere and do not need to come to the registration kiosk.”