Air passengers will now have to show any one of government issued Aadhaar card, driving licence, passport, voter ID or PAN card with address proof document to enter the airport. An Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), in a bid to tighten security, revised its 2017 “list of photo identity proof for security control of departing passengers” and issued a circular to airports and airlines. The earlier circular comprised 10 photo identity documents, including cards issued by educational institutions for students, service ID cards issued by state and central governments and PSUs and others. The new list of approved cards will be included in the ticket, the official said.

A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official said people coming to the airport present different kinds of ID cards for entry. “The list will help standardize the documents that need to be presented for entry. It will help the personnel manning the gate to verify them better. We still allow people to enter, especially minors, if there is a certificate from a gazetted officer,” he added. The new circular is part of a move towards introducing DigiYatra scheme under which passengers will be able to travel paperless, he said. “Once passengers register themselves on the website and attach their Aadhaar, they can just walk in by showing their boarding pass,” he added.

On Wednesday, designated senior advocate and Bar Council of India co-chairman S Prabakaran was denied entry to Madurai airport by CISF personnel, saying his Bar council ID card was not on the list of recognised documents. Airport director Madurai, V Rao, said the new BCAS rules had been issued earlier in August and had come into force. Condemning this, Prabakaran said he visited the same airport on Tuesday evening and there was no problem when he presented his Bar council ID. The CISF personnel manning the gates then informed a woman officer who disclosed that as per the revised norms, only five ID cards would be accepted at airports. The original list, published on October 26, 2017, had a list of 10 documents and was pared down to five in the latest order dated August 20.

Citing instructions by the CISF additional director general on December 5, 2018, Prabakaran said the circular had said that instructions had been issued to all chief airport security officers of all airports under CISF security that its personnel should accept the photo ID cards issued by the Bar Council as a valid ID proof for entry to airport terminal buildings along with valid tickets. “What is the need to revise this circular in eight months, that too specifically disallowing Bar council ID cards,” asked Prabakaran.

Source : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/air-travellers-should-show-1-of-5-id-cards/articleshow/70812100.cms