‘They scanned our passports’: US-based couple flags ‘scam’ at Delhi airport, authorities respond

A United States-based Indian couple has flagged a ‘scam’ at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, claiming that the entire family’s passports were scanned at a duty free shop. Pooja Tomarr Sikarwar shared an Instagram video yesterday where she claimed that one member of the family purchased a bottle of liquor at Delhi airport’s Terminal 3, following which the duty free staff proceeded to scan the passports of the entire family.Pooja Tomarr Sikarwar flagged a possible ‘scam’ at Delhi’s T3. (Instagram/@pooja_umreeka)Her husband, sitting next to her in the video, raised the possibility that staff might be scanning passports of non-purchasing individuals to smuggle goods out of the airport under their names. He also questioned whether personal information was being gathered without consent through this practice.What the US-based couple alleged“Indira Gandhi Airport, jo Dilli mein hai, IGI jisko kehte hain, uspe saare scams ki limit cross ho gayi hai,” Pooja Tomarr Sikarwar said in her Instagram video yesterday.She claimed that after landing in Delhi from the United States, she purchased a bottle of liquor from the first duty free shop at T3.Ideally, only the passport of the person making the purchase should be scanned. At the duty free store, however, staff also scanned the passports of Sikarwar’s nine-month-old ba and her toddler.When Sikarwar’s husband questioned the staff, employees claimed that they were scanning passports to check for “offers”.“Toh uske baad offer check kiya toh bolte hain ki offer hai, ek chocolate aap loge dusri chocolate pe 10% free mil jayega. Toh yeh kya hai bhai? (After checking the offers, they said – if you buy one chocolate, you will get 10% off on the second chocolate. What is this nonsense?),” her husband said.Concerns over data collectionPooja Tomarr Sikarwar’s husband then raised concerns about smuggling and unauthorised data collection through the practice of scanning passports at Delhi airport’s duty free shop.“Is there some kind of scam going on at IGI where you scan everyone else’s [passports] and smuggle items outside under the names of people who haven’t even bought anything from duty-free?” he asked.“And this is about that duty-free shop right after you exit immigration at IGI—that very first duty-free shop.“Or is the scam about taking your personal information without your knowledge or consent and creating some kind of database out of it?” he added, saying that this should not have happened at all.He noted that such practices do not send a good message to visiting foreigners and harm the country’s reputation.Delhi airport respondsThe official Instagram handle of Delhi airport responded to Sikarwar’s video, asking her to share further details so that authorities could investigate the incident.“Dear Pooja, We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused. We request you to kindly share more details about your experience, including your contact number and passport details, through our “Contact Us” page: https://bit.ly/ContactDELAirport so that we can investigate the matter and ass you further,” the official handle posted.