A woman who recently arrived in Delhi from the US has raised questions over an alleged “scam” at Indira Gandhi International Airport after claiming that employees at a duty-free store asked to scan the passports of her entire family, including her nine-month-old toddler.
A woman who recently arrived in Delhi from the US has raised questions over an alleged “scam” at Indira Gandhi International Airport after claiming that employees at a duty-free store asked to scan the passports of her entire family, including her nine-month-old toddler.
Pooja Tomarr Sikarwar shared a video on Instagram shortly after landing in Delhi, in which she described what she called a concerning experience at the airport’s duty-free store. According to Pooja, her family purchased a liquor bottle after arriving from the US, but she questioned why the employee sought passports and boarding passes belonging to multiple family members when only one person was making the purchase.
The video was captioned, “IGI Airport Terminal 3 Delhi Scam.”
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“Indira Gandhi Airport mein saare scams ki limit cross ho gayi hai (All limits of scams at Indira Gandhi Airport have been crossed),” Pooja said in the video.
“Humlog aaj hi wahaan land kiye US se aur aake humne duty free se liquor ka bottle khareeda (We landed in Delhi from the US today and bought a bottle of liquor from the duty-free store).”
Pooja questioned why documents belonging to family members who were not making the purchase were required.
“Jo khareedta hai, unka hi document lagna chaahiye (The documents of the person making the purchase should be required),” she said, adding that the employee asked for passports and boarding passes.
Her husband subsequently handed over his documents, which the employee began scanning. The couple then questioned why the passports needed to be scanned.
According to Pooja’s husband, the employee claimed that the documents were being checked to determine whether the family was eligible for any offers and said the other passports would also be checked for the same purpose.
The employee reportedly referred to an offer under which purchasing one chocolate would make customers eligible for a 10% discount on another. However, Pooja’s husband questioned whether such a process could amount to unauthorised collection of passengers’ personal data.
He also raised concerns about the possibility of travellers’ information being collected without their knowledge.
“Ya phir yeh aisa scam chal raha hai ki aapke jaankari ke bina, aapki personal information li jaa rahi hai (Or is this a scam where your personal information is being taken without your knowledge),” he asked.
He further questioned whether such information could potentially be used to build a database.
“Maine unse yeh kahaa bhi ki yeh sirf Indians ki baat nahi hai, foreigners bhi yahaan aate hain, aur yeh desh ke liye achcha sandesh nahi jaata hai (I also told them that this is not just about Indians; foreigners come here too, and this does not send a good message about the country),” he said.
The family urged passengers arriving at IGI Airport to exercise caution and provide their passports only when they are personally making a purchase, rather than handing over documents belonging to other family members.
Following the viral post, Delhi Airport responded through its official Instagram account, expressing regret over the inconvenience caused and asking Pooja to share further details about the incident.
The airport’s response comes as the matter remains under investigation.
(Please note: The allegations made in the video have not been independently verified)
