Passengers travelling to India need to fill out a self-declaration form on the online and provide their travel details for the past 14 days.
Highlights:
- Passengers can now show their vaccine certificate or a negative RT-PCR to enter India
- Airlines to only allow asymptomatic passengers after their thermal screening
- About 2 per cent of the passengers in a flight will be randomly tested at the airport on arrival
They are required to produce a negative RT-PCR test 72 hours before their arrival. Alternatively, passengers from Australia, Canada, Sri Lanka, Singapore and can upload their vaccine certificates on the Air Suvidha portal to enter the country.
The new rules are effective from 14 February (00.01 Hrs IST).
"Each passenger shall also submit a declaration with respect to the authenticity of the report and will be liable for criminal prosecution if found otherwise," the Indian government said in the advisory.
The Indian community in Australia has welcomed the news.
Shanti Reddy, President of the Federation of Indian Associations of ACT, said it's a right step in the right direction.
"People had to line up and spend money on getting these tests here in Australia whereas there are many centres in India where one could get it easily and at a lower price. But it's good that the requirement of getting an RT-PCR test has been done away with completely," Mr Reddy told SBS Hindi.
Passengers are required to give an undertaking that they would comply with any government direction related to home or institutional quarantine. They can upload the undertaking on the portal or provide it through their airlines.
The government said health officials will thermally screen all the passengers at the airport. Symptomatic passengers will be isolated and taken to a medical facility.
"Children under five years of age are exempted from both pre- and post-arrival testing," the government said.
"However, if found symptomatic for COVID-19 on arrival or during the period of self-monitoring period, they shall undergo testing and treated as per laid down protocol," it added.
