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The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday, 15 July, released Draft Drone Rules 2021 for public consultation. These rules are proposed as a replacement for the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Rules 2021, which were released on 12 March.
Under the legislation prepared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), UAS, commonly known as drones, will now require unique identification numbers.
Other crucial features of the rules include safety features like ‘No permission – no take-off’, real-time tracking beacon, geo-fencing etc. A six-month lead time will be provided for compliance.
Number of forms will be reduced from 25 to 6 and the fee will be reduced to nominal levels with no linkage with the size of the drone.
On the platform, an interactive airspace map with green, yellow, and red zones will be displayed.
Additionally, there will be no restriction on drone operations by foreign-owned companies registered in India and all import of drones and drone components will be regulated by DGFT.
Before any registration of license issuance, no security clearance would be required.
All drone training and testing will be carried out by an authorised drone school, with the DGCA prescribing all training requirements, overseeing drone schools, and providing pilot licences online.