The Delhi International Airport launched an online Air Suvidha Portal, in August 2020, for international passengers. The portal offers a contactless service to international fliers, who have a connecting flight from Delhi to other states. All international passengers arriving in India can use this portal to fill self-declaration and exemption forms regardless of varying protocol for institutional quarantine of international passengers in different states.
Forms to be Filled
Air Suvidha comprises two forms—a self-declaration form where passengers fill in basic details and information about recent travel history, and an exemption form that, if approved, will exempt the passenger from institutional quarantine. All international passengers need to fill in the self-declaration forms on the portal. Previously, it would be filled at the airport prior to departure.
Some states mandate seven days of institutional quarantine plus seven days of home quarantine for international passengers, others require them to be institutionally quarantined for 10 or 14 days, while some others allow asymptomatic passengers to skip the institutional quarantine and undergo a 14-day home quarantine.
Institutional quarantine is a mandatory isolation in a hotel at the passenger’s own expenses, or at a government facility at no charge. The government rolled out the plan to facilitate smoother journey for international passengers after receiving several complaints from passengers about the high costs at hotels.
The exemption facility is available to international passengers travelling to any Indian state other than Karnataka, Odisha, and Kerala, where asymptomatic passengers (even transfer passengers) have to undergo 14-day home quarantine. Only those passengers who have a Covid-19 negative RT PCR test report, or have suffered a death in the family, or are suffering from a serious illness, pregnant women, and parents accompanied by children below the age of 10 can apply for exemption by providing documents such as a copy of passport along with a medical certificate, or RT PCR test (to be taken 96 hours prior to departure from the port of origin) results.