Users of the Digi Yatra app were left in a lurch when the old application listed on Google Play Store and Apple App Store stopped working without any prior notice. Users had to download a new application from their respective application stores, which is also reportedly not running perfectly.
Multiple users registered their complaints about the abrupt switch to the new app and also asked for reasons why the old app wasn’t updated. Some reviews on the Google Play Store also raised questions about the safety of public data.
A user of the app, expressed his disappointment, saying, “It is very irresponsible on the part of DigiYatra Foundation when they disable the old app and switch over to the new app without advertising substantially of the said change.”
Another user criticised the new app for its glitches and raised concerns about its security. He said, “An utterly subpar, half-baked app with thousands of glitches. Just to think that this deals with biometric data of millions of citizens is terrifying. This is a new app that is supposed to replace the old app. How on earth are we supposed to know this? I had to discover this myself. No notification, nothing. Incompetent.”
Another user highlighted that the platform should have communicated the upcoming shift to a new app via a push notification. He said that “DigiYatra should have shown some maturity regarding communication in the old app to let the customers know that they need to download a new version and provide a link for the new app within the old app.”
A user left a review on the new application’s Play Store listing pointing out the confusion caused by the sudden change and the issues with the new app. He claimed that in the new app only the upload picture feature is working. The option to upload a pdf is still not working.
In response to the user complaints, the Digi Yatra team issued an explanation saying that “the old Digi Yatra App is on a different Domain and therefore we have some challenges in push notifications. Our team is working on it, thanks for your advice”
In response to another review, they said, “We have changed the domain. Therefore the need to publish a new App. This is the official App from Digi Yatra Foundation so is the old one. However, the old Digi Yatra App has been deprecated”
What should Digi Yatra users do?
The official X account of Digi Yatra jotted down the additional steps users will have to take to resume the service.
Digi Yatra also released a pop-up notification on their website claiming that they are upgrading their backend systems from 26 March until 31 March 2024. Users were asked to follow the manual process at the airports. However, the pop-up does not mention the switch to new applications.