baggage tags
An IndiGo Airlines cabin baggage security check tag is pictured on a passenger's luggage at Bengaluru International Airport in Bangalore March 5, 2012.Reuters

Seven major airports across India will stop stamping and tagging the hand baggage of passengers from April 1 this year, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said on Thursday. The airports are from the major metros across the country. The seven airports are New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Cochin.

CISF Director General O P Singh had told the media last year that a pilot project at six major airports would be launched, where passengers did not have to get a security stamp on the tags on their hand baggage. Passengers could get their other security checks done and board their flights.

The pilot trial of not stamping handbags ended in December 2016, following which the CISF and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) reportedly said they would review and "analyse the feedback of the pilot project" before extending the proposal.

The aim of introducing the new rule is to make air travel experience for every passenger smooth and hassle-free. Six airports had been selected previously — New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The new rule will now be applicable to airports in these six cities and a seventh one, which has not been announced yet.

After the 2016 trial, now comes the new decision to stop stamping of hand baggage from April 1 at seven major airports.