Airlines will have to mandatorily share PNR details of passengers with customs authorities 24 hours prior to departure and arrival of international flights in a move believed to be aimed at preventing potential fugitives from fleeing the country.

The information, which shall include name, contact, payment and baggage details and frequent-flier status, will be used by the customs department for improved surveillance and risk assessment of passengers entering or leaving the country, according to a finance ministry notification.

Some domain experts have cautioned against misuse of such data.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), under the finance ministry, on Monday notified the Passenger Name Record Information Regulations, 2022, which aims at “risk analysis” of passengers to prevent economic and other offenders from fleeing the country as well as check illicit activities such as smuggling.

The National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger, set up by the CBIC, will process the information for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences under the Customs Act. Such information may be shared with law-enforcement agencies or government departments or any other country, it said.

India has now joined 60 other countries that collect PNR details of international passengers.

Airlines in India are at present required to share passenger information limited to name, nationality and passport details in advance with the immigration authorities. The government had proposed the requirement of airlines sharing PNR details of passengers 24 hours in advance in the Union budget for 2017 but a formal process for communication of such data has only been formalised now with the notification issued on Monday.

“Every aircraft operator shall transfer the passenger name record information... of passengers they have already collected such information in the normal course of business operations, to the designated customs systems,” the regulations said, adding that all aircraft operators will have to seek registration with customs for the implementation.

“Every aircraft operator shall transfer passenger name record information not later than 24 hours before the departure time; or at the departure time — wheels off,” the regulation said, adding the information would be retained in the customs systems for up to five years.

The information to be shared by airline companies for both inbound and outbound international flights include the name of the passenger, billing/payment details such as credit/debit card number, date of issue of ticket as well as intended travel, names of other travellers in the same PNR, travel itinerary for the PNR, contact details like email ID and mobile number, details of travel agency, baggage information and code share information (when one airline sells seats on another carrier’s flight).

Analysts said the aim of seeking such details was to prevent bank loan defaulters from fleeing the country to avoid prosecution.

According to information furnished by the government in Parliament, 38 economic offenders, including Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi, have fled India in the past five years.

The regulations said that for each act of non-compliance, aircraft operators would have to pay a penalty of a minimum of Rs 25,000 and a maximum of Rs 50,000.

On sharing information with other law-enforcement agencies or foreign states or government departments of India or any other country, the regulations said the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger might give out relevant information on a “case-to-case basis”.

Abhishek Jain , KPMG in India, partner, indirect tax, said the objective of the regulations was to obtain relevant passenger data for risk analysis to proactively prevent, detect, investigate or prosecute offences under the customs law or any other domestic or international law.

“The onus of collecting and sharing such information in time has been put on the airline operators. Further, while strict privacy guidelines have been stipulated under the said regulations, the government should ensure that the same are duly enforced to prevent unauthorised use,” Jain added.

Tanushree, Roy, director-indirect tax, Nangia Andersen India, said: “The PNR regulations would be an effective tool in curbing cross-border crimes. At the same time, the regulations would help keep a track record of every passenger travelling to and from India, which would further help in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences under the Customs Act.”