e-Clearance for Afterlife Remains eCARe portal

life Remains (eCARe) portal

Portal for e-Clearance for Afterlife Remains (eCARe)

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has introduced the e-Clearance for Afterlife Remains (eCARe) portal to streamline and expedite the process for transporting human remains to India. Here’s a quick overview of its features:

Unified Platform: Integrates all key stakeholders, including consignees, Airport Health Organizations (APHOs), and airlines, into a single, easy-to-use interface.
Efficient Document Processing: Facilitates smooth and timely clearance of all necessary documents related to the transport of human remains.
Automated Alerts: Provides automated periodic notifications to keep users informed at every step of the process.
Live Status Tracking: Allows real-time tracking of the clearance process, ensuring transparency and peace of mind for all involved.
User-Friendly Design: Simplifies the entire clearance process, making it accessible and easy to navigate for everyone involved.

For more information or to access the portal, visit: eCARe Portal (Link: https://ecare.mohfw.gov.in).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for e-Clearance for Afterlife Remains (eCARe)

Q 1. What is eCARe?

The eCARe Clearance Portal is an online platform for conducting human remains clearance procedure electronically within 48 hours of the application received which is expected to transform the government functioning to a more efficient mode. It is developed as a standard reusable product amenable to replication across the governments.

Q 2. What is the purpose / objective of eCARe?

The purpose of the eCARe is:

to expedite the clearance process of the human remains to be brought to India.
to notify all the stakeholders involved in human remains clearance process via portal for tracking, instant feedback, and easy coordination.
to streamline the process making it easy for the applicant to track the application.
to enable all applicants as individuals, organization, and airlines to apply for human remain clearance as earlier it was only airlines who used to apply.

Q 3. What is the URL for logging into eCARe portal for the clearance of human remains?

https://ecare.mohfw.gov.in

Q 4. What are the browsers in which the portal works best?

eCARe portal will work on all the browsers however Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge are preferred for best experience.

Q 5. What are the steps involved in the human remains e-clearance process?

Q 6. Who can all use this eCARe Portal?

Any individual who is a relative or friend of the deceased can submit the application in the portal.
Any Organisation viz. NGO, Funeral Services, Embalmers or Indian Embassy, Consulates, High Commissions of India who is assisting the families in transportation of the Human Remains.
Any Airlines who can facilitate the applications on behalf of the family of the deceased for transportation of the Human Remains.

Q 7. Can a relative in India apply for the transportation of the Human Remains of their deceased family members?

Yes, only if he has all details and colour scans of all original official documents to apply for clearance from eCARe portal.

Q 8: Is there a cost associated with the process?

No, there is no fees. We do not request any payment, so please be cautious of individuals who request fees.

Q 9. What is the contact number of eCARe portal?

The support team number is +91-11-25653408 & +91 11 25652129, available 24/7 Customer care can also be reached via email on apho.del-hum-mohfw@gov.in

REGISTRATION ON PORTAL

Q 10. What is the Identity document needed for registration?

Passport is the document used for creating the new user credentials for individual users. It is important to note that the deceased person’s passport must not be used for new user id creation as it will not allow that passport number to be submitted as application for transport as human remains.

Q 11. Are there any other documents allowed for registration as individual user?

Presently, only the Passport number is allowed for new individual user registration.

Q 12. What is the first step to be followed by the first- time/new users?

First time users need to sign up on portal by selecting the role type such as Individual, Organization or Airline and input all the required information, including the First/Last Name, Email, Country Code with Mobile Number, and opting for WhatsApp Notification to receive the OTP, Passport Number, and captcha code. Opting WhatsApp for receiving OTP is recommended for users with international phone numbers. While signing up it should also be noted that the name of the deceased person cannot be used as name of applicant or consignee.

Q 13. What is the next step after the applicant has signed-up on the portal?

After filling all the required information, including the username, password, and captcha code, click on the login button. Thereafter, they will be directed to the OTP page where an OTP needs to be filled for logging in. OTP can be checked from SMS, for Indian phone numbers and currently in India and from WhatsApp for International and by email for all consignees . After submitting the OTP, the user will be directed to the Application home page.

Q 14. Is there any provision to change the password once it is made?

After completing the login process, applicants can reset their password. Depending on the user's choice, the applicant can either reset the password or proceed without resetting it.

Q 15. Can the applicant update/ change the address details later?

Yes, applicant can update or change the address details in the Profile section, if required.

Q 16. Is there a provision for filing ‘Duplicate Application’ by multiple applicants”?

Only one Application for the deceased with their passport details will be allowed by the eCARe Portal, and no duplicate application is possible with the same passport number. It is recommended that only one application be processed from Nodal Officer approval to final clearance by the APHO.

Q 17. If the application request encountered an error and the consignee fails to submit the request on portal, what is the solution in this case?

You can request for the deletion of the application and make a new application by contacting the customer care email id apho.del-hum-mohfw@gov.in; in addition to this, if the officials feel that some application needs to be deleted/deactivated, they can also do it. These data cleaning activities helps in prompt monitoring of the portal.

COMMON QUERIES FOR HUMAN REMAIN/ASHES APPLICATION

Q18 What are the different formats in which documents can be uploaded on eCARe Portal?

The documents can be uploaded in PDF, JPEG, JPG, PNG formats with a file size of less than 512 MB.

Q 19. Can a document with any special characters in its name be uploaded on the eCARe portal?

No special characters are allowed in the document name because of the inbuilt security of the portal. All documents should have simple name with the extension, as Cancelled passport.pdf, embalming certificate.jpeg, etc.

Q 20 What are the different mechanisms for sending notifications to consignee?

To update consignee with the application status email notifications are sent to all consignees. For Indian phone numbers notifications are sent WhatsApp as SMS, however the WhatsApp and/or SMS services for international numbers is planned to be implemented in future.

Q 21. Can a xerox copy of documents be uploaded on eCARe portal for clearance?

No. Xerox copies of the documents are not accepted for e-clearance. Only the scanned copies of the original documents in colour (mandatory as well as additional documents) are accepted for the processing of the human remains/ashes e-clearance through eCARe portal.

Q 22. How much time is taken for e-clearance once all documents are submitted?

The application will be processed within 48 hours of submission. If the application is returned to the applicant due to some discrepancy, the new timeline of 48 hours begins once the application is resubmitted. Our goal is to provide clearance within 12 hours of application and to improve clearance time further in the coming months.

Q 23. What to do if the International Passports of NRI was not cancelled and have the OCI Cards/PIO cards only?

The applicant can upload the International Passports or the OCI/PIO card of the deceased person with a note that the international passport was not cancelled. OCI card is normally cancelled by the Indian Embassy which can be attached.

Q 24. What are conditions of death which are not allowed for transport of human remains to India?

As per Rule 41 of Indian Aircraft Public Health Rules 1954, No person shall bring into India any dead- body or human remains of persons who may have died of yellow fever, plague, anthrax, glanders or such other diseases as may be notified by the Central Government for this purpose. Provided that nothing in this rule shall apply to properly cremated ashes of dead bodies or human remains.

Q 25. If the cause of death is mentioned as pending, how do we proceed in such cases for transportation?

The Non-Infectious disease certificate by the Health Authority or a competent authority of the country must be attached and a certificate of clearance to transport the Human Remains is allowed by the competent authority must be attached along with the Death Certificate.

Q 26. Are there any country-specific restrictions?

Yes, Maldives and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has certain restrictions.

Maldives does not have embalming facilities, so a request for exemption from the Indian Embassy must be attached as an Embalming Certificate along with mandatory documents as (a) NOC from Indian embassy of Maldives mentioning the exemption of Embalming Certificate (b) death certificate (c) Embassy of India NOC for transport of the human remains to India (d) cancelled passport (e) certificate of packaging of human remains as per WHO guidelines (f) signed self-declaration (format available on portal).

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may require APHO clearance prior to embalming in some rare occasions. A downloadable self -declaration as an undertaking must be provided by the consignee when submitting application which the consignee is obligated to send the copy of embalming certificate immediately after receiving from health authority of KSA by email to Nodal Officer eCARe portal apho.del-hum-mohfw@gov.in and show to the Airlines before booking of the cargo for transport. And for the same reason, the applicant must upload the Embalming Certificate and transport details together to generate the Provisional Conditional Clearance Certificate, after which only the Airlines will allow the cargo to be loaded at the origin Airport. The final clearance from Airport will be given only when the mandatory documents are shown by the Airlines representative to the destination APHO.

When a consignee selects Maldives or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the source country on the eCARe portal, the portal asks for the availability of an embalming certificate; if the user selects yes, the field to upload an embalming certificate becomes mandatory; if the user selects no, a self-declaration is required to be submitted by the consignee as mandatory document.

For the consignee from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the field to upload embalming certificate appears on the travel details page at the time of booking of the cargo. The Consignee also has to send the original scanned embalming certificate copy by email to apho.del-hum-mohfw@gov.in This feature is unique and to be used only in such situations where the KSA health authorities require the APHO NOC for doing the embalming procedures in some rare situations.

Needless to mention, if an embalming certificate is available for the Human Remains from KSA, the normal clearance procedure will be followed, and cargo can be booked in the same way as it would for any other country.

CREATING AN APPLICATION FOR HUMAN REMAINS TRANSPORTATION

Q 27. What is the first step to create an application for human remain clearance?

The Applicant must select the "Human Remains Clearances Applications" option, which will lead them to the “My Application Dashboard”; where they will click on "Add New Application," and a new page will appear on the screen. The users will be presented with two options for selection: "Human Remains" and "Ashes." After selecting the desired option, the consignee is redirected to a declaration page only after which the process of uploading documents can be processed.

Q 28. What are the mandatory documents required for submitting an application?

Mandatory documents include: 1. Embalming Certificate, 2. Death Certificate, 3. NOC from Indian Embassy of concerned country, 4. Cancelled passport of the deceased. The non mandatory documents include 1. Certificate of packaging of Human remains as per WHO guidelines 2. Certificate of non- infectious disease provided by health authority 3. Transit/burial permit. The concerned authorities may ask for these non-mandatory documents while approving the application as per the need.

Q 29. What all information needs to be filled in the “Human Remains Clearance Application”?

On this application page, the user must enter their Name, Indian Passport Number/foreign passport number/OCI card number, Gender, Date of Birth, Date of Death, repatriate from (the country from where mortal remains will be transported), and repatriate via (the respective state airport where mortal remains will be received). If the human remains are arriving via a transit airport, the international airport where they are first received will handle the clearance process. For example, if a cargo is coming from the United States to Ahmedabad and there is a transit in New Delhi from where the consignment will be transported further to Ahmedabad, the clearing process will take place in New Delhi, and APHO in New Delhi will pull the application submitted for APHO Ahmedabad into their system. Additionally, the user is required to upload scanned copies of mandatory documents with a file size of less than 512 MB. On submission, these documents will be reviewed by the Nodal Officer for verification purpose.

Q 30. Is the non-infectious disease certificate needed for all applications?

Non-Infectious cause for death certificate is required if the cause of death is natural or unknown or pending for investigation or analysis. If the cause of death is infectious disease as per local health authority, a certificate to be attached as non-infectious with adequate treatment of the human remains as per WHO Guidelines or otherwise. For all other causes of death this is not a mandatory document. However,seeQ.24restrictionsonthecauseofdeathforIndiaasperRuleswillbefollowedbytheNodal Officer for clearance.

Q 31. How can I book the transportation of Human Remains with Airlines?

Once the nodal officer gives an e-clearance for human remains based on the submitted documents, an email will be sent to the registered email id of the applicant. This email will also have instructions for airlines to book human remains on cargo and provide the Air Waybill (AWB), which must then be uploaded to the portal by the applicant for generating a Provisional Clearance Certificate.

CREATING AN APPLICATION FOR ASHES TRANSPORTATION

Q 32. What are the mandatory documents and information required for transporting Ashes to India?

The first step for transporting human remains or ashes is same (see Q27). After filling the declaration, the consignee the consignee must clarify whether the ashes are coming as Check-in baggage, Hand

baggage or as Cargo. The mandatory documents for transporting ashes are Packaging and sealing

certificate of the urn, Death Certificate, NOC From Indian Embassy of concern country, Cancelled passport (Note: - For NRIs, foreign Passports are to follow local regulations but OCI card should be cancelled by Embassy of India). Other basic information includes Citizenship status, name of deceased, passport/OCI card number of the deceased, Gender, Date of Birth of the deceased, Date of Death of the deceased, Repatriate from (the country from where the human remains will be transported to India), Repatriate via (the Indian airport where the human remains will be received).

ADDING TRANSPORT DETAILS FOR SENDING THE MORTAL REMAINS/ASHES

Q 33. Is it Mandatory for the Applicant, Organisation or Airlines to add the Transport details in the eCARe portal after the Nodal Officer clearance? What information is filled in this section?

Yes. It’s mandatory to upload transport details for Human remains as well as Ashes transport applications. For Ashes and human remains coming in a cargo, the same set of information needs to be filled by the consignee, which include From (the country from where the mortal remains will be transported to India), To (The APHO where the mortal remains will be received), Airway bill (generated by the Airline), Airline name, Airway bill number, Airline Email, Additional email of airline’s departure and destination division, Arrival time to India (In Indian Standard Time) and Remarks, if any. In addition to transport details the consignee will also enter the details of designated person who will receive the mortal remains at the airport, this includes their Name, Phone number/Mobile number, Email and Address.

If the ashes are coming as hand baggage or check in baggage the consignee will provide information as From (the country from where the mortal remains will be transported to India), To (The APHO where the mortal remains will be received), Airline name, Airline Email, Additional email of airline’s departure and destination division, Arrival time to India (In Indian Standard Time) and Remarks, if any.

In addition to transport details the consignee will also enter the details of the person transporting the ashes, this includes their Name, Phone number/Mobile number, Email, Address and Boarding pass.

GENERATING A PROVISIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE

Q 34. When will the Provisional Clearance Certificate be generated from the portal?

Once the Transport details are uploaded on the eCARe portal, an email with Provisional Clearance Certificate will be shared with the Airlines (all additional email ids mentioned at departure and arrival Airport) , applicant, and the local contact.

Q 35. Does Provisional Clearance Certificate suffice the requirement for the clearance of the Human Remains at the destination Airport?

No. Provisional Clearance Certificate is only a preliminary clearance given for booking of the Human Remains for the transportation to the destination airport.

Q 36. What is the importance of the Provisional Clearance Certificate?

It is one of the mandatory documents to prove that the e-clearance was done through the eCARe portal and only after this certificate is generated the airline can load Human Remains via cargo for the transportation. Once the human remains arrive at the destination airport, the airline must submit this certificate, along with the original documents uploaded at the time of application, to the APHO for final clearance before handing over the human remains to the local contacts. It is worth noting that Provisional clearance certificate is mandatory at the destination airport along with original documents and is not mandatory at the departure airport.

Q 37. Why the generation of the Provisional Clearance Certificate mandatory and how it will be useful for the APHO in clearance?

Once the Transport details are added by the applicant, it will be viewed by the destination APHO and will give a clear information of the flight arrival date and time, designated contact person to receive the human remains, their address, and they can also download the Provisional Clearance Certificate to cross

verify it with the Provisional Clearance Certificate submitted by the Airlines with the Human Remains. This will assist APHO in planning the final clearance procedure at the destination airport.

Q 38. What is the procedure to generate the Provisional Clearance Certificate for transport of the Human Remains/Ashes.

It is mandatory for the Applicant to add the transport details for generating the Provisional Clearance Certificate which is to be submitted to the APHO of the destination Airport for final clearance.

Q 39. What happens after the applicant receives the Provisional Clearance Certificate?

The application is transferred to APHO for further steps.

EDITING THE TRANSPORT DETAILS AND REGENERATING A PROVISIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE

Q 40. What is the procedure for the consignee to change transport details or details of the person receiving the ashes or mortal remains at the airport; or bringing ashes as hand baggage or check in baggage?

The consignee can change the transport details from the portal even if the Provisional Clearance Certificate is generated. In such cases, once these details are edited, the Airline, applicant, and the local contact receive a revised two pager Provisional Clearance Certificate with the earlier details strike out and new details on the second page.

For such changes to avoid any confusion, the Consignee must email the amended details to apho.del- hum-mohfw@gov.in for easy follow up and to notify the destination APHO.

Q 41. In what scenarios the clearance is done at an airport other than the destination airport?

In some scenarios for example if the Human remain is coming from USA to Amritsar the consignee as well as the APHO will not know if the cargo is coming to Amritsar directly or via some connecting international airport for example Delhi. If this cargo lands at Delhi airport it will further go to Amritsar in a domestic flight and the official formalities of receiving the cargo will be done at Delhi airport and not at the Amritsar airport.

For such in-transit cargos, the CIHD department or Nodal Officer of eCARe portal has the right to change concerned APHO on portal and for this example as and when the cargo will arrive at Delhi airport the Nodal Officer can pull the application from APHO Amritsar and complete the paperwork at Delhi airport.

ROLE OF NODAL OFFICER

Q 42. What is the next step after submission of the application?

On submission of the application, the Nodal Officer will be notified so they can proceed to verify the application, documents and information provided by the applicant. Applicant will also receive notifications on email/SMS/WhatsApp confirming the same.

Q 43. What is the Application/ Document verification process followed by the ‘Nodal Officer’?

All submitted applications by applicants are visible to the Nodal Officer.
The nodal officer checks and verifies all submitted applications, as well as their supporting documents.
Once approved, the application status reflects on the Nodal Officer as well as on applicant’s dashboard.
Applicants get notified of the approved application status and were asked to upload transport details, Airline information, details of designated local contact who will receive the mortal remains, and other relevant details, as need be.
Following Nodal Officer approval and the addition of Transport details, the Applicant will be issued a Provisional Clearance Certificate, after which the application will be transferred to the concerned APHO for further action.
If the application is not supported by the necessary documents, the nodal officer may return the application to the consignee with instructions to correct it. Nodal Officers of APHO and CIHD are given the option to "cancel return to the consignee" status in the event that applications are returned to the consignee by mistake, or to review the applications if necessary.

Q 44. Can the application be returned to the Applicant after submitting the documents?

The Nodal Officer can return the application to the applicant if there is any clarification sought for the submitted documents. For such applications, a message is sent to the Applicant as well as to the Nodal Officer, CIHD Nodal Officer and APHO.

Q 45. Under what circumstances an application is returned to the applicant?

If Nodal officer finds any discrepancy in the information provided by the applicant, they can add remarks and send back the application. Applicant then must act on the remarks before resubmitting the application. Resubmitted applications and documents are re-verified by nodal officers for approval.

Q 46. What is the sequelae of events after the nodal officer gives clearance to the submitted application?

After approval by Nodal Officer, the applicant will be notified via email/SMS/WhatsApp. Thereafter, this email and message of approval by the Nodal Officer in the eCARe Portal can be used by the individual applicant to book a cargo.

Q 47. What is the role of the ‘applicant’ after the application gets approved by the nodal officer?

Applicant gets notified to upload transport, details (AWB bill details, airline information, documents, and other relevant details) once the application is approved in all aspects by the Nodal Officer.

ROLE OF APHO

Q 48. What is the role of APHO in this entire process of ‘human remains transportation’?

Once the application for clearance of human remains gets approved, and the applicant receives a ‘Provisional Clearance Certificate; the application (along with details like the Airline departure and arrival details/AWB details/ Provisional Clearance Certificate) is then transferred to APHO for further steps.

Q 49. What is the workflow of APHO in this entire process of ‘human remains transportation’?

APHO can Login to the Application using Username/Password and Mobile and Email based OTP based authentication.
They will get intimation by email and SMS as soon as applicant registers for human remains clearance. At each step the APHO will be intimated by email and SMS.
APHO can view all the mandatory documents and if any inputs on validity of the documents is required it can be reported to the Nodal Officer by email as well as over telephone.
APHO can download the Provisional Clearance Certificate issued by Nodal Officer.
APHO can view the details uploaded by the applicant in the portal viz. Airway Bill (AWB), flight details, arrival date, time, and details of the local contact person receiving the human remains at the Airport for planning the final clearance.
Details of the person receiving the human remains at the destination Airport required by the APHO for any follow up needed in future.

Q 50. What is the sequelae of events for final clearance of human remains on arrival at the destination Airport?

Once the Human Remains arrive, APHO verifies them along with the Provisional clearance certificate and all the required documents in original submitted by the Airline.
Upon successful verification, NOC is issued to the Applicant/Designated person receiving it or authorized representative.
APHO will then update the date and time of arrival of mortal remains/ashes along with their remarks in the application and upload a copy of the final NOC document to the portal.

Q 51. What is the final step after the APHO uploads the final NOC?

Application workflow completes after uploading NOC, and status of the application updates as "Clearance Certificate added” and all stakeholders can view the “Final No Objection Certificate” from the application.

INSTRUCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AIRLINE

Q 52. If the Airline has query on authenticity of the approval and apprehensions on whether the APHO has approved the documents, what can they do in such situation?

As a standard practice, until now, Airline was submitting the application and getting confirmation email from the APHO directly for allowing the transportation of the Human Remains. However, with the eCARe portal, anyone with all the required documents and information can submit the application and the approval is shared on the registered email id of the Consignee or applicant in the eCARe portal by the Nodal officer, which may be considered as the confirmation message to book the cargo. Airlines can check it with the nodal officer of eCARe portal by quoting the reference no. through email (apho.del- hum-mohfw@gov.in) if they want to check the authenticity.

Q 53. If Airlines are responsible for ensuring that the documents are in order, how can Airlines confirm the eCARe clearance given is authentic?

Airlines can check the authenticity with the Nodal Officer of eCARe portal by sending an email to apho.del-hum-mohfw@gov.in with relevant information and quoting the reference number. Additionally, Airlines is required to verify the four mandatory original documents before booking the cargo AWB. Once the same is booked and AWB is issued, it needs to be uploaded on the eCARe Portal under ‘Add Transport details’ section along with Airlines details (Name and email id) for issuance of Provisional Clearance Certificate. The details of local contact such as name, number, address, and email id, also needs to be filled in this section. The local contact is responsible for receiving the Human remains. A confirmatory email having all these details will also be sent to the Airlines.

Q 54. As Airlines can we make an application on behalf of the applicant?

Yes, airlines can sign up and create their own login credentials and can apply on behalf of the applicant by uploading documents and getting the clearance from Nodal Officer. Once the clearance is obtained, the airline can proceed with the booking and then upload transportation details to the portal to generate Provisional Clearance Certificate.

Q 55. Airlines will be able to book, give the AWB, transport details of flight only few hours before the Human Remains cargo is planned for departure. Can the Transport Details be added at this time also? Who must add the details?

Yes, the Transport details are mandatory to be added before the actual departure of the flight for generating the Provisional Clearance Certificate which is required by the Airlines to attach with the original set of the documents. The applicant who applied for the transport of the Human Remains only can add the Transport details and attach AWB in the eCARe portal. So, the Airlines must ensure that the applicant uploads the transport details, generate the Provisional Clearance in the eCARe portal before actual loading and departure of the cargo.

Q 56. What is the role of the concerned airlines in this entire process of ‘human remains transportation’?

Airlines will be responsible for handing over the provisional clearance certificate copy, set of original documents and one set of xerox copy required for the Human Remains clearance to the APHO for getting a final clearance.

Q 57. What are the consolidated roles of the Airlines in the transportation of the Human Remains?

The Airlines must ensure the Applicant who applied in the eCARe portal share the approval clearance message email given by the Nodal Officer of eCARe portal for booking the cargo. The booking of the cargo and issuing AWB must be done only after verifying the four mandatory original documents as,

1. Embalming Certificate,

2. Death Certificate,

3. NOC from Indian Embassy of concerned country,

4. Cancelled passport of the deceased.

As mentioned earlier there are country level restriction for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is worth noting that airlines should double check availability of embalming certificate for cargo coming from Saudi Arabia and check if the consignee has mailed the same to apho.del-hum-mohfw@gov.in for conditions where they have submitted self-declaration form on submission of Embalming certificate before actual transport of human remains. Only in this situation the Provisional Conditional Clearance Certificate is given which is to ensure all the 4 mandatory certificates are to be given by the Airlines for final clearance of human remains from destination airport. (See Q 26)

Similarly, for Maldives mandatory documents include,

(a) NOC from Indian embassy of Maldives mentioning the exemption of Embalming Certificate

(b) death certificate (c) Embassy of India NOC for transport of the human remains to India

(d) cancelled passport

(e) certificate of packaging of human remains as per WHO guidelines

(f) signed self-declaration (format available on portal),

the availability of which must be ensured before booking the cargo.

If the airline has any doubt on the eCARe approval clearance message given by the consignee, the Airlines can verify the authenticity of the clearance message from the Nodal Officer by sending an e- mail to a pho.del-hum-mohfw@gov.in with reference number, name of the deceased, passport number, date of clearance and the name of the destination airport.

The First step in the eCARe portal is application by consignee which will be scrutinized by Nodal Officer. Nodal Officer once verifies and approve all the documents then the clearance message is given to

Consignee by email with an instruction to show the message to the Manager of Airlines for booking the cargo, create Airway Bill (AWB) by showing all original Mandatory documents. The Airlines are allowed to book the cargo based on this clearance and give the correct email ids of Departure and Arrival Airports for Consignee to add them in the Transport details. Airlines must not ask of the Provisional Clearance Certificate (PCC) for booking of cargo itself. This is the next step when they have to Add the transport details and AWB is needed for consignee to generate the PCC.

Once verified, the booking of the cargo can be done and AWB can be issued. The Airline must ensure that Applicant adds the Transport details in the eCARe portal. Applicant must attach airway bill and provide airline’s name, email id (see Q 33), flight arrival time in India (in IST), designated person name to receive the human remains at the airport, mobile number, email id and address in the portal.

After filling this information, a provisional clearance certificate is generated which will be sent via email to Consignee, Airline (at the email provided by the consignee; therefore, airlines must provide valid email id), Nodal Officer, APHO of the destination Airport and CIHD Nodal Officer.

The Airline Carrying the human remains must bring hard copies of Provisional clearance certificate and mandatory documents in original as well as one set of xerox copy. These documents will be submitted to the destination airport's APHO for verification and final approval.

e-Clearance for Afterlife Remains (eCARe) portal