Airlines in India must share int’l passenger details with customs for “risk analysis”

India has made it compulsory for airlines to share international passengers' details with the country's customs authorities in order to undertake "risk analysis".

The move is aimed at monitoring movement of persons accused of financial offences, like money laundering, out of the country, reports our New Delhi correspondent quoting officials of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

As per the decision taken on Monday by the CBIC, every airline is now required to provide passenger name record (PNR) details to the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger (NCTC-P) no later than 24 hours before the departure time of a flight.

The government also said that this is being done with an aim to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute offences under the Customs Act.

Besides the customs authorities, Indian government's law enforcement agencies and even government departments of other countries can also get access to the data "on a case-to-case" basis. The access will be subject to maintenance of the same level of information protection, privacy and safeguards, provided the agencies specify the purpose of the information being sought.

The PNR information will include details like date of reservation, benefit information like free tickets and flight class upgrades and an issue of ticket as well as frequent flyer.

The details will also contain payment or billing information, travel itinerary and the travel agency.

Thus, India will now join a list of 50 countries that collect PNR details of international passengers.

CBIC also stated that a penalty of Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 will be levied in case an airline does not comply with the mandate.

The CBIC said the passenger information collected by the customs will be subject to strict information privacy and protection, in accordance with the applicable law.

"The PNR details will be retained for a maximum of five years," the CBIC notification read.