Only 95,000 inbound and outbound passengers have crossed the e-Gates made operational for e-passport holders at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport seven months ago.
An average of 500,000 inbound and outbound passengers use the international airport in Dhaka every month. In this case, only 2 per cent of the total passengers using e-Gates. After the inauguration till now only 95,000 passengers have used the e-Ggates.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal inaugurated the first-ever electronic gates at the Dhaka airport in June last year, marking the country's step into the digital era of travel. Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia to launch an e-gate for e-passports.
Group Captain Muhammed Kamrul Islam, Executive Director, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport a total of 95,000 passengers have used e-Gates from last June to February this year. The rate of e-gate users is increasing. However, once e-passport reaches everyone the benefit of e-Gates will reach 100 per cent, he added.
The Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) installed six e-Gates, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, However, the immigration process is now being carried out manually.
Once the e-Gates are in operation, the camera attached to the gate will identify the passenger automatically after analysing information from the e-passport chips. This means, passengers will no longer be required to stand in queues for long, as the e-gates will open automatically for e-passport holders.
The government had launched the e-passport programme in January 2020 to make the immigration process easier and enhance the international ratings of Bangladeshi passports.
In June 2019, e-gates were installed at the Dhaka airport as part of the government's move to launch e-passports. The immigration officials were given training on operating the gates.
The government has planned to set up 50 e-Gates gradually at all the airports and land ports across the country under the "e-Passport and Automated Border Control Management Project".
Six e-Gates were launched at the Sylhet airport recently. Three of them were set up for departure and three for entry.
Passengers can easily pass through the e-Gates as the gates will be opened automatically after submitting an e-passport and the whole process will be completed within 18 seconds, said airport authorities. Earlier on June 7, 12 e-Gates were inaugurated at Dhaka airport.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the e-passport at a function at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital in March 2020. Bangladesh ranks 119th among the top 10 e-passport holders. After that, the Immigration and Passport Department has issued e-passports to about 7 million passport holders. There are about 1 crore more Mechanically Readable passports (MRP). MRP passports are no longer being issued, according to sources.
