The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi has rolled out an e-gate pass facility at its cargo terminal, which is expected to reduce physical contact of a person in gaining entry to the complex in these challenging times of COVID-19 and make the entire process hassle-free.
The GMR Group-run Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) said in a release that the first paperless and contactless QR-coded e-gate pass facility at the cargo terminal has come up in association with Delhi Cargo Service Centre and Celebi, the two cargo terminal operators, as well as Delhi Customs Brokers Association.
“Digitization is need of the hour and the entire committee of the association in one of the meeting with DIAL conceptualized the idea, when there was no pandemic. We are proud and happy to see the very successful outcome of our endeavor, i.e implementation of e-gate pass, when we need it the most. The collaborative efforts would go long way.”
Mr S. Ramakrishna, President of Delhi Custom Brokers Association (DCBA)
The first e-gate pass facility comes in line with the announcement at a recent Permanent Trade Facilitation Committee (PTFC) and it would be open to all stakeholders, effective July 1, as an optional service and mandatory from July 15.
According to the airport operator, the new facility will ensure less human interaction and at the same time expedite the process and save time.
“This new paperless and contactless facility, amid a pandemic situation, is aimed at minimising human interface at the cargo terminals. This will not only bring more efficiency in the process but also reduce paperwork.”
~ DIAL spokesperson
Following the new mechanism, the cargo terminals, the airlines, consolidators or freight forwarders will now have to upload the scanned copy of Master Airway Bill/House Airway Bill in the custodian system, said the release. The Bill of Entry (BoE) and Out of Charge (OoC) will be transmitted electronically by the Customs to the custodian system.
With these details, the customs broker agent will submit the request for issuance of e-gate pass for the delivery of goods and will generate the QR code at his office itself after due verification by the cargo terminal operator, saving time and resources, the release stated.
“The introduction of the e-gate pass facility will help strengthen the digitisation of the supply chain at the airport besides optimising on timely delivery of services by air cargo community while adhering to the social distancing norms.”
~ Vandana Agarwal, Senior Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Civil Aviation
Further Ms. Agarwal adds that developing the digital world-class facilities with the redistribution centre – infrastructure and processes – would be a game-changer.
DIAL has two state-of-the-art integrated cargo terminals and a trans-shipment excellence centre at the airside, with the largest connectivity to around 150 destinations across the globe.
During the times of the pandemic, the Delhi airport was designated as a crucial hub for import and distribution of COVID-19 related medical essentials by the centre.
The terminals which can handle over 1.8 million tonnes of cargo annually, can be scaled up to to 2.3 million tonnes.
