The government has proposed to make the Aarogya Setu app mandatory for air travel. If this happens, flyers will need Aarogya Setu installed on their mobile phones and the app will act as an e-pass for their travel.

This Business Standard report quotes a draft : “People whose Aarogya Setu app is not ‘green’ are not to be allowed inside the terminal building. Persons above 80 years will also be restricted in the first phase of resumption.”

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hinted that the app may be used as an e-pass for travel amid nation-wide lockdown to fight Coronavirus.

The indication arose at his video-conferencing with chief ministers of states, where he asserted the Aarogya Setu app is an essential tool in the fight against COVID-19.

He urged the states to ensure the maximum download and use of the app. PM Modi had spoken about popularising the app and had referred to the use of technology in contact tracing in Singapore and South Korea.

The experience of the two countries in successfully tracing contacts in their fight against the virus led India to make its own tool for contact tracing and subsequently use it for travel.

The app is expected to play a vital role in the government's exit plan from the nationwide lockdown to fight Covid-19.

Amid the Covid-19, China is encouraging people to return to work. It is using a software on smartphones that uses data to regulate the citizens’ lives and by giving them colour codes. This is used to decide whether a citizen should be quarantined or allowed into public spaces.