Hotel body urges Govt of India to withdraw mandatory filing of Air Suvidha form

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The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India said on Thursday that it has once more requested the government to remove the requirement for inbound travellers to submit an online Air Suvidha form because it is impeding tourism growth as the Covid-19 outbreak eases. The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) said in a statement that the organisation has informed Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia about the challenges faced by international travellers in a representation. 

"...With restrictions being relaxed across most countries and with India's vaccination drive yielding fruitful results, it is imperative that India also make necessary relaxations in this regard," it said.

Air Suvidha form is a self-declaration to be mandatorily filled by all international arriving passengers to India, disclosing their current health status and recent travel details, among others.

In its representation to the minister, FHRAI said many guests miss flights due to their inability to submit the form within the time limit, resulting in the cancellation of hotel room bookings. Since many travellers book flights through third-party online sites or apps that do not inform about this requirement, passengers are caught off-guard in such cases.

"Not only is filling out the online form tedious, coupled with difficulty in navigating the site and in uploading documents but also many travellers were completely unaware of the requirement until arriving at the check-in," it added.

With several passengers having missed their flights to India, FHRAI said it has appealed to the ministry to at least have a provision for physical forms as an alternative to the online forms.

The difficulties encountered by passengers consequently are posing a hindrance to the growth of Indian tourism, post-pandemic, it added. "The Indian tourism and hospitality industry cannot afford to lose potential tourists dropping plans of travel to India," FHRAI said.

With input from PTI