Maharashtra has been insisting on an RT-PCR report for travel originating from some states for a long while, including Delhi, Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal et al. The state has just changed the rules and now anyone entering the state will require a negative RT-PCR report. Read on for the modified Maharashtra Guidelines for Air Travel which are now coming in force.
Maharashtra Guidelines for Air Travel (and surface travel) changed
Maharashtra has extended its restrictions across the state till June 1, 7 AM which means the entire state is in some sort of a pseudo lockdown at the moment. With cases dropping, however, the requirements for travelling to Maharashtra have been made more stringent, beginning now:
Any Person travelling to Maharashtra using any mode of travel will have to produce a negative RTPCR report with the sample having been collected within the past 48 hours before the time of entry into Maharashtra
Please note that the new requirement is a 48-hour prior sample collection as compared to the 72-hours earlier.
Various airports have clarified that one could test on arrival in the state as well if arriving by air, but only in case of emergencies:
All passengers coming into Maharashtra need to have a negative RT-PCR test report. Exemption is available for passengers arriving due to medical case or death in family. These passengers can get tested on arrival at Pune Airport.
— Pune Airport (@aaipunairport) May 15, 2021
However, Mumbai CSMIA will not allow for testing at the airport on arrival when the requirement goes live on May 15, 2021, as of 7 am (48 hours after notification), as per documents sighted by LFAL.
Goodmorning! The guidelines will be effective from May 15th,2021. As per the guidelines, any passenger without a negative RT PCR test report will not be allowed to board the flight.
— CSMIA (@CSMIA_Official) May 14, 2021
Bottomline
Travelling to Maharashtra requires a negative test report (RT-PCR) for everyone going forward as of 7 AM on May 15, 2021. The test report has to be not more than 48-hours old at the time of arrival in Maharashtra. Also, do not bank on getting tested on arrival since there is no uniform policy in the state at the moment.
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CSIA Twitter handle says the report should be issued within 48 hours of arrival into Mumbai. This is different from the earlier requirement of sample collection which had a 72 hours time window. Probably better, since diagnostic labs in most cities are overloaded and can’t possibly issue a report within 48 hours. In fact labs in most cities are taking anywhere between 3 and 4 days to issue a report.
How would this work for someone taking a flight from US via Delhi to Mumbai?
Considering that the person would have taken a test around 48 hours before to get the test results in time for the flight to India.