India’s Bureau of Immigration has decided to permanently abolish the practice of stamping boarding passes at immigration counters for passengers travelling abroad through all international airports from September 1.
Passengers will instead be able to complete immigration procedures using electronic boarding passes stored on their mobile phones.
The decision has been taken considering the time wasted under the existing stamping system and problems caused when boarding passes cannot be scanned due to stamps not being properly applied.
Printed boarding passes will still be accepted if presented by passengers, but immigration officers will no longer stamp them.
Meanwhile, the Central Industrial Security Force had already discontinued the practice of stamping boarding passes when screening passengers within airport premises several years ago.
Officials further said that a pilot project is currently underway to eliminate entry and exit stamps in the passports of Indian passport holders at airports.
