India's Bureau of Immigration will stop stamping boarding passes at international airports starting September 1, shifting to digital verification through smartphone e-boarding passes.
India's immigration authorities have announced plans to discontinue the practice of stamping physical boarding passes at international airport counters, effective September 1. The decision, communicated through an internal directive by Deepak Yadav of the Delhi Foreigners Regional Registration Office, aims to streamline departure procedures for international travellers.
The Bureau of Immigration, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs, determined that physical stamping created unnecessary delays and inconvenience for passengers. Officials also noted instances where improper stamping rendered boarding passes illegible or difficult to process. Under the new system, travellers will be able to present digital boarding passes displayed on their smartphones for immigration clearance, while physical documents will still be accepted but no longer require stamping.
Airport operators and the Central Industrial Security Force have been notified of the procedural change and instructed to brief their staff accordingly. Notably, the CISF had already discontinued stamping boarding passes during security screening procedures for both domestic and international passengers several years ago, limiting physical documents to security clearance purposes only.
The move represents part of a broader initiative by India's immigration system. The Bureau of Immigration is reportedly piloting a wider programme to eliminate entry and exit stamping for Indian passport holders, with plans to expand this measure across all Indian airports following the pilot phase.
