Delhi Airport develops portal exempting quarantine for international flyers

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a GMR Group-led consortium, announced that it has developed a first-of-its-kind portal where India-bound international arriving flyers can fill in mandatory self-declaration form and also apply online for exemption from mandatory institution quarantine process.

The online forms have been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of External Affairs and Governments of various states and union territories including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttrakhand and Madhya Pradesh among others.

As per the MoCA guidelines, this facility will be available for all international arriving passengers from Monday. This will help in making journey more convenient and comfortable for passengers in a contact-less way as they won’t have to fill the physical copies of the forms on arrival. With India establishing air bubble with several countries, the number of international arrivals is likely to go up. In such a situaion, this new online self-declaration & quarantine exemption portal will prove to be beneficial for the government officials in taking a swift and informed decision on granting exemption or know the latest health condition of the international arriving passenger.

Passengers seeking exemption under the five specific categories will need to fill the e-form available on the website of Delhi Airport, according to a statement issued here on Friday by the  Ministry of Civil Aviation. They will have to submit it along with supporting documents, including copy of their passports, at least 72 hours before boarding their flights. However, there is no such time capping for passengers filling for the Self-Declaration form.

This process will help passengers avoid the hassle of providing the same set of information and documents to different authorities multiple times as online portal has the smart option to autofill the second application using the previous application’s request number. All applications will get auto-routed to the respective state government depending upon the first port of arrival. Similarly, all self-declaration applications will be routed to Airport Health Organization (APHO), under Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

A copy of approval or rejection of exemption requests on specific grounds will be emailed to the passengers. Those who would be given exemption from mandatory institutional quarantine can show the same at the transfer area after landing at Delhi Airport, and walk out of the airport hassle-free. This process would not only help the flyers, who can seek exemptions, but also the authorities in completing the requisite formalities faster, and reduce congestion at the arrival hall of the airports.

Passengers would be considered for exemption only if they fall under any one of the five exempted categories – Pregnant women, a death in the family, serious illness (Description to be provided), Parents accompanied by children below 10 years and COVID-19 negative in recent RT-PCR test.

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO of DIAL, said the focus of Delhi airport is on safety and convenience of passengers. Delhi Airport has associated with the Government of India to take an initiative that is crucial for the well-being of all international arriving passengers, he said. Having an approved exemption form will not only ease the quarantine process, but also mitigate the problem of inordinate delay while queuing up for the quarantine process. Further, passengers can also avoid the hassle of filling physical copies of the self-declaration twice, he added.

Ms Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA, appreciated the Delhi Airport’s initiative and said, “The e-platform prepared by DIAL would be used by all airports in the country and help the States/ health authorities to fast track the process of clearances for international arrivals,” she said.  She added that it will further facilitate to scale up the number of flights handled at Indian airports.

According to government guidelines, all passengers arriving by international flights in India must undergo seven days institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by seven days of home quarantine. It is mandatory for international arriving passengers to undergo health screening by APHO. This includes thermal temperature screening by discreetly mounted, highly accurate, mass screening cameras.