India's e-Visa portal doesn't have a field for your flight out, but that doesn't mean nobody checks anywhere along the way. A dummy ticket, also called an onward ticket, is a real PNR booked for visa or border-check purposes without paying for the flight, and it's come up a lot in traveller forums lately because the actual checkpoint for India isn't where most people expect it. Here are the real questions people ask before they land in Delhi or Mumbai on a one-way fare.

Do I actually need an onward ticket to enter India?

Not as a formal line item on the e-Visa application, no. But airline check-in staff run your passport through IATA's Timatic system before they'll issue a boarding pass, and if India requires proof of onward travel for your nationality, that's where it gets caught, not at Indian immigration itself.

So where does the actual rejection happen, the airport in India or the one I'm flying from?

Almost always the one you're flying from. Once you've landed in India, immigration is mostly checking your visa and passport details match, not re-litigating your travel plans. The airline is the gatekeeper here, which surprises a lot of people who assume it's an Indian government checkpoint doing the asking.

I'm planning an open-ended backpacking trip. What do I even book?

Something plausible, even if it changes later. A flight out roughly when your e-Visa allows, or a bookable date a few months out, gives the airline something to verify. Turning up with absolutely nothing booked is the scenario that gets people held at check-in while staff figure out what to do with you.

Does a bus or train ticket to Nepal count as proof of onward travel?

It can, but land exits are harder for an airline to verify at check-in than a flight, since there's no equivalent instant lookup. If you're doing the classic overland India-Nepal loop, it's worth also keeping a placeholder flight booking in your back pocket in case a check-in agent wants something they can actually confirm.

What if my e-Visa says 30 days and my onward ticket is dated 90 days out?

That mismatch is exactly the kind of thing that invites a follow-up question. Keep the onward date inside your permitted stay, or at least close enough that it doesn't read as a contradiction of your own visa. Gov.uk's travel advice for India is a useful sanity check on entry conditions before you book anything.

Can I just buy a fully refundable ticket instead of a dummy one?

Yes, and plenty of people do. A refundable fare or a real return flight satisfies the same requirement as a dedicated onward booking. The airline doesn't care which flavor of ticket you show, only that it's a genuine, verifiable reservation.

Do check-in staff ever just take my word for it?

Sometimes, especially if the flight isn't full and the agent isn't in a rush. But it's not something to plan around. Some agents ask to see the confirmation on your phone, others just tick a box, and you don't get to choose which one you get on the day.

My layover is in a country that also asks for onward proof. Does that complicate things?

It can. If you're transiting through, say, the Gulf or Southeast Asia on the way to India, the airline at your very first check-in desk may check onward proof for the whole itinerary, including your eventual exit from India, not just the next leg. Sort the full routing out before you fly, not city by city as you go.

Is it worth paying more for a fully flexible ticket instead of dealing with this?

For some people, yes. If you travel often and hate the admin, a flexible fare that lets you shift dates for a small fee can be cheaper over a year than repeatedly rebooking cheaper onward tickets. It comes down to how often you're likely to change plans, and how much you value not thinking about it again.

Checkpoints compared

Checkpoint What's actually verified How strict
Airline check-in (origin) Timatic-flagged onward/return proof High, this is the real gate
Indian immigration (arrival) Visa validity, passport match Lower, rarely re-checks travel plans
Overland exit to Nepal Discretionary, officer-dependent Variable

Sort your onward booking before you're standing at the check-in desk with a queue behind you. If you want the basics first, what a dummy ticket actually is is a good starting point, and if the Nepal overland route is part of your plan, the land border crossing guide covers that angle in more depth. Booking one now is faster than sorting it out at the counter.