The Centre Monday refuted a report that said passengers’ data from the Digi Yatra application was being used to crack down on tax evaders. “The recent media report concerning Digi Yatra is based on unfounded and inaccurate claims,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation posted on X.
“There is no sharing of Digi Yatra passengers’ data with Indian tax authorities,” it added.
The government’s denial comes after a newspaper report, citing sources, claimed the tax department had access to the Digi Yatra app data which was being reconciled with tax filings to check for discrepancies in the declared income. It added the Income Tax department would start issuing notices to tax evaders in 2025.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation informed that the app “follows the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) model, where Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and travel credentials are stored exclusively on the user’s device, not on any central repository”.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation hereby clarifies that the recent media report concerning Digi Yatra is based on unfounded and inaccurate claims.
There is no sharing of Digi Yatra passengers data with Indian tax authorities. The Digi Yatra app follows the Self-Sovereign Identity…
— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) December 30, 2024
“If a user uninstalls the Digi Yatra app, the data is deleted entirely,” it added.
Further clarifying, the ministry said, “Airport systems automatically purge passenger data within 24 hours of the flight’s departure. It is also important to note that Digi Yatra is designed solely for domestic passengers and does not apply to international travellers.”
Earlier, the Income Tax department also denied the report, saying it was not looking at Digi Yatra data to go after evaders.
It is seen that news articles have appeared stating that Digiyatra data will be used to crack down on tax evaders.
In this connection it is clarified that as on date there is no such move by the @IncomeTaxIndia department.@nsitharamanoffc@officeofPCM@FinMinIndia@PIB_India— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) December 30, 2024
The official X handle of Digi Yatra thanked the Income Tax department for “addressing the false claims”.
Digi Yatra, based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), provides for contactless, seamless movement of passengers at various checkpoints at airports.
The data shared by a passenger for Digi Yatra is stored in an encrypted format. To avail the service, passengers need to register their details on the Digi Yatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self-image capture. In the next step, the boarding pass has to be scanned and the credentials are shared with the airport.