Passenger name record information

Sections 98 and 99 of the Finance Act, 2017 inserted  new Sections 30A and 41A in Customs Act, 1961 (‘Act’ for short).  The newly inserted section 30A provides that the person-in-charge of a conveyance that enters India from any place outside India or any other person as may be specified by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette, shall deliver to the proper officer-

• the passenger and crew arrival manifest before arrival in the case of an aircraft or a vessel and upon arrival in the case of a vehicle; and
• the passenger name record information of arriving passengers, in such form, containing such particulars, in such manner and within such time, as may be prescribed.

Where the passenger and crew arrival manifest or the passenger name record information or any part thereof is not delivered to the proper officer within the prescribed time and if the proper officer is satisfied that there was no sufficient cause for such delay, the person-in-charge or the other person shall be liable to such penalty, not exceeding Rs.50,000/-, as may be prescribed.

The newly inserted Section 41A provides that the person-in-charge of a conveyance that departs from India to a place outside India or any other person as may be specified by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette, shall deliver to the proper officer-

• the passenger and crew departure manifest; and
• the passenger name record information of departing passengers,

such form, containing such particulars, in such manner and within such time, as may be prescribed.

Where the passenger and crew departure manifest or the passenger name record information or any part thereof is not delivered to the proper officer within the prescribed time and if the proper officer is satisfied that there was no sufficient cause for such delay, the person-in-charge or the other person shall be liable to such penalty, not exceeding fifty thousand rupees, as may be prescribed.

Regulations

Section 108 of Finance Act, 2017 introduced a sub clause (ab) to Section 157 (2) of the Act.  Section 157(2)(ab) gives powers to the Board to make regulations to provide the form, the particulars, the manner and the time of delivering the passenger and crew manifest for arrival and departure and passenger name record information and the penalty for delay in delivering such information under sections 30A and 41A. 

For the purposes of these regulations the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs made the regulations called ‘The Passenger Name Record Information Regulations, 2022’  vide Notification No. 67/2022-Customs (NT), dated 08.08.2022 which came into effect from 08.08.2022.

National Customs Targeting Centre – Passenger

The regulations provide for the establishment of ‘National Customs Targeting Centre – Passenger’ to receive and process passenger name record information along with any other information relevant for risk analysis of passengers.  The purpose of this work is-

• the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences under the Act and the rules and regulations made there under, or
• the law enforcement agencies or government departments of India or any other country may specify for the purposes of regulation 10.

Registration of air-craft operator

The expression ‘air-craft operator’ is defined under Regulation 2(1)(b) as a person or organization or enterprise engaged in or offering to engage in the operation of aircraft other than,-

• a ‘State aircraft’ as defined in the Aircraft Rules, 1937; or
•  an aircraft, which is used for the transportation of passengers or goods by air, and specifically excluded for the purposes of these regulations by an order of the Board; to, from, or through India.

Every aircraft operator shall register with the proper officer in the FORM provided in these regulations.  The aircraft operator shall furnish the following information/documents for the purpose of its registration-

• Name of applicant with detail Permanent Account Number;
• Full address of the applicant;
• The name(s) and address of the authorized persons [a person who is authorized by, or on behalf of such aircraft operator to undertake all acts connected with the entry and clearance of the operator's aircraft, crew, passengers, cargo, mail, baggage (including unaccompanied baggage) or stores]
• Educational qualification of each of the persons who will actually be engaged in the filling of PNR information.
• Documents to be enclosed-

• Copy of contract, or
• Memorandum of understanding, or
• Agreement entered into with the foreign authorizing agent; and
• Declaration.

Transmission of information

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 as per details provided below-

•  PNR record locator code;
•  Date of reservation/issue of ticket;
• Date(s) of intended travel;
• Name(s).
• Available frequent flyer and benefit information (i.e., free tickets, upgrades, etc.).
• Other names on PNR, including number of travellers on PNR.
•  All available contact (email, telephone number, mobile number information [including originator of reservation)].
• All available payment/billing information (e.g. credit card number).
• Travel itinerary for specific PNR.
• Travel agency/travel agent.;
• Code share information;
• Split/divided information;
• Split/divided information;
•  Ticketing information, including ticket number, one-way tickets and Automated Ticket Fare Quote (ATFQ) fields.
• Baggage information.
• Seat information, including seat number.
• General remarks including Other Service Indicated (OSI), Special Service Indicated (SSI) and Supplemental Service Request (SSR) information.
• Any collected APIS information (e.g., Advance Passenger Information (API) that is initially captured by an air carrier within its PNR, such as passport number, date of birth and gender).
• All historical changes to the PNR listed above.

These information are to be transferred  to the designated Customs systems by push method [the method whereby an aircraft operator transfers passenger name record information from the departure control system or the reservation system of such aircraft operator to database of the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger] using PNRGOV EDIFACT [a message of any standard electronic message format endorsed jointly by World Customs Organization, International Civil Aviation Organization and International Air Transport Association which can be efficiently transmitted] message format.

Missing Information

Every aircraft operator or its authorized agent who becomes aware, before or at the time of departure, that any information provided by them under these regulations is incomplete or inaccurate, shall immediately provide such complete or accurate information.

Protection of information

The passenger name record information received by Customs designated system shall be subject to the strict information privacy and protection in accordance with the provisions of any law for the time being in force.  The processing of passenger name record information revealing a person’s race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, health, sexual life or sexual orientation, shall not be permitted.  The passenger name record information shall be received, stored, processed and disseminated in a secure system accessible only to the duly authorized officers by establishing robust procedure to protect the privacy of passengers and crew members by the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger.

Period of retention

The passenger name record information received in Customs designated system shall be retained for a maximum period of 5 years from the date of such receipt.  This shall not be applicable, if such information is required in the course of an investigation, prosecution, or any court proceeding.

Disposal

After expiry of five years it shall be disposed of by depersonalization or anonymization through masking out the relevant information which can serve to identify directly the passenger to whom the passenger name record information relates.  Such depersonalized or anonymized information may be repersonalized or unmasked when used in connection with an identifiable case, threat or risk for the specified purposes.     The information received may be used for further analysis and study only by an authorized officer not below the rank of Principal Additional Director General or Additional Director General of the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger.

Audit

Every year systems audit and security audit will be conducted to prevent any misuse of the passenger name record information.  These audits will be conducted by an officer not below the rank of Principal Additional Director General or Additional Director General of the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger appointed by the Director General of Analytics and Risk Management.  The said officer shall not carry out both the system audit and security audit.

Sharing of information

When passenger name record information relates to any offence, under any law for the time being in force, at national or international level, the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger, may share the relevant information on a case-to-case basis with other law enforcement agencies or government departments of India or any other country, subject to maintenance of same level of information privacy and protection of information and safeguards.

Such other law enforcement agencies or government departments of India or other countries shall, while seeking information, specify the purpose for which such information is being sought.

Penalty

The Principal Additional Director General or Additional Director General of the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger, may impose a penalty which shall not be less than Rs.25,000/-  but not more Rs.50,000/-, for each act of non-compliance, on an aircraft operator or his authorized agent who contravenes or fail to comply with any provisions of these regulations.