Facial recognition at Mumbai airport flags identical twins, DigiYatra responds: 'Judwa logon ke liye...'

DigiYatra Foundation responded publicly to the post.

DigiYatra Foundation issued a response after a video posted by a traveller showed its facial recognition system failing to distinguish between identical twin brothers at Mumbai airport, resulting in denied access at automated entry gates.

The incident was highlighted in a video shared on Instagram by Prashant Menon, who said that he and his twin brother were both registered users of DigiYatraand had attempted to enter the airport together using the facial recognition facility. According to Menon, the system rejected their entry after identifying more than one individual as matching the same facial data.

In the video, Menon explained the situation while standing near the DigiYatra gate. “I am at the airport with my twin brother. We have both registered in DigiYatra. See the magic of DigiYatra. It says ‘Access denied’ because more than one person found with the same face,” he said.

He also addressed the issue in Hindi in the same clip, stating, “Hum judwa logon ke liye kuch kijiye DigiYatra waalon (Please do something for us twins, DigiYatra)."

The video drew attention to the limitations of facial recognition systems when applied to individuals with highly similar facial features.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Prashant Menon (@prashant.menon28)

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DigiYatra Foundation responded publicly to the post. In a reply addressed to Menon, the organisation said, “Dear Prashant, we appreciate you for highlighting this. We’ve reached out to you via DM with more details to assist further. Team DYF.”

The video gained a lot of traction with users as well who responded with a mix of humour and suggestions.

One user commented, “Sita and Gita were not included in the training model for this AI.”

Another wrote, “Too funny. And equally concerning.”

A third user offered a technical perspective, stating, “System is doing the right thing by flagging anomaly in data point (your faces) and sending you for manual verification at counter.”

The DigiYatra programme uses facial recognition technology to facilitate contactless entry at airports by matching passengers’ faces with their boarding and identity details. The system is designed to reduce queue times by automating verification, with manual checks available in cases where the technology flags inconsistencies.