Airlines to share international passengers details with customs

New Delhi: The government has asked airlines to share all international passengers’ details, including contact and payment information, with customs authorities 24 hours prior to the departure of flights.

The move is aimed at preventing law offenders from fleeing the country.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), under the finance ministry, on August 8 notified the ‘Passenger Name Record Information Regulations, 2022’, which aims at “risk analysis” of passengers to prevent economic and other offenders from fleeing the country as well as check any illicit trade such as smuggling.

‘The National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger’, set up by the CBIC, will process information for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences under the Customs Act and also for the law enforcement agencies or government departments or any other country, it said.

“Every aircraft operator shall transfer the passenger name record information... of passengers they have already collected such information in the normal course of business operations, to the designated customs systems,” the regulations said, adding every aircraft operator will have to seek registration with customs for its implementation.

The information to be shared by airline companies for both inbound and outbound international flights include the name of the passenger, billing/payment information (credit card number), date of issue of ticket as well as intended travel, and names of other travellers in the same PNR, travel itinerary for the PNR, contact details like email id, mobile number, details of travel agency, baggage information and code share information (when one airline sells seats on another air carrier’s flight).

While the regulation did not state the reason for seeking such information, analysts said this was to prevent bank loan defaulters from fleeing the country to avoid prosecution. It further said that for each act of non-compliance to these regulations, the aircraft operators would have to pay a penalty of a minimum of Rs 25,000 and a maximum of Rs 50,000.

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The government will certainly re-evaluate the fare cap in place for domestic airlines once there is a healthier environment in terms of jet fuel prices, according to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Against the backdrop of lingering pandemic blues, the ministry has put in the fare cap system for the local airlines. Currently, the fare capping is applicable on a rolling basis for a 15-day cycle. In May, Scindia had said that the fare cap acts as a protector for air travellers as well as airlines. ↔ More on P6