A US-based NRI couple has raised privacy concerns after alleging that duty-free staff at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport scanned passports belonging to their entire family during one liquor purchase. The couple said the documents scanned at Terminal 3 included those of their toddler and nine-month-old baby, even though the children were not making any purchase themselves.
Pooja Tomarr Sikarwar and her husband spoke about the incident in an Instagram video after arriving at Delhi Airport on an international flight from the United States.
They alleged that employees at the store asked for the passports of other members of the family and scanned them as well. The couple did not provide evidence that their passport details had been used for an unauthorised purchase or that their duty-free allowances had been misused. Their complaint focused on why passports belonging to non-buying family members were allegedly scanned. He also advised international passengers not to hand over passports belonging to family members who are not purchasing unless staff explain why the documents are required.
One family member wanted to buy a bottle of alcohol from a duty-free shop after completing immigration, according to the couple. “Indira Gandhi Airport mein saare scams ki limit cross ho gayi hai,” Sikarwar stated in the video while questioning why the documents of family members who were not buying anything had allegedly been scanned.
