India to end boarding pass stamping at airports for international travellers from September 1
Starting September 1, international travelers departing from Indian airports will no longer need physical boarding passes stamped by immigration authorities. Passengers will instead use e-boarding passes on their smartphones to streamline the clearance process.
Why it matters
Represents a significant digital transformation in airport security and immigration procedures, aimed at reducing passenger inconvenience.
“Passengers flying out of Indian airports will no longer be required to carry a physical boarding pass as immigration authorities have decided to do away with the stamping of this document from September 1,” officials said on Saturday (August 22, 2026).
“Instead, passengers travelling abroad will have to produce an e-boarding pass on their smartphones for immigration clearance,” the officials told PTI .
The Bureau of Immigration (BOI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently communicated the official directive to airport authorities after the agency found that the physical stamping of boarding passes for immigration purposes was causing "inconvenience" to passengers.
“Instances of errors in reading boarding passes due to "improper or incorrect" stamping were also being reported and, hence, it was decided to do away with this procedure,” the officials said.
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