Drone Regulations 2020 in India

 

 Audio Version Given Below

 

Drone flying has been legal in India since 1^st December 2018, when the Ministry of Civil Aviation made the ‘Civil Aviation Requirement’ (CAR) effective for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).

Incidentally, I also posted an article titled ‘It’s the Time to Fly’ on 1^st December 2018 about it.

Recently, on 2^nd June 2020, the Ministry of Civil Aviation published via Gazette notification, the draft for ‘Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules 2020’.

In this article, I shall try to discuss what changes have been suggested in the CAR issued in 2018.

Before we begin I would like to clarify that the word ‘Drone’ is only a common word used for any Unmanned Aircraft (UA). The technical term for the ‘Drone’ that we see around us, is ‘Remotely Piloted Aircraft’. It is a type of UA.

Now, let's discuss the suggested changes. For the sake of simplicity, I will use the word ‘Drone’ to mean the UA. Also, since the majority of my readers would be interested in using the Drone for themselves or engaging in the trading of drones, I will focus my discussion on that part.

1)  Category: Earlier the drone was categorized only as ‘Nano’, ‘Micro’, ‘Small’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Large’ based on the Maximum Weight of the drone being from ‘250 grams or less’ to ‘more than 150 Kilograms’. It meant that any drone with less than or equal to 250 grams in weight was considered in the Nano category, whatsoever.

However, now for the Nano drone, apart from weight, the maximum speed of the drone, maximum attainable height (the maximum height up to which the drone can fly) and the maximum range from the remote pilot will also be considered.

If the maximum speed of the drone is more than 15 meters per second

OR

If the maximum attainable height is more than 15 meters (approximately equal to 50 feet as mentioned in 2018 rules) and the maximum range from the remote pilot is more than 100 meters, then the drone will be considered in the next higher category.

For example, even if the drone is less than 250 grams in weight but can fly at a speed of 20 meters per second or has a range of 110 meters then it will not be considered as a Nano category drone but as a Micro category drone.

2)  Authorized Persons: As per the 2020 draft rules, the manufacturer, importer, trader, owner, and operator will have to take authorization from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the respective activity.

  Eligibility of Authorised Persons

The following can be authorized persons

      i.          Individual: Should be a citizen of India AND at least 18 years old

    ii.          Company: Should have its principal place of business in India AND at least two-thirds of its directors and the Chairman should be citizens of India. Substantial ownership and control should be with Indian citizens.

  iii.          Firm: Substantial ownership and control should be with Indian citizens.

 iv.          Government can also become an Authorized Person.

3)  Unique Authorization Number (UAN): As per the 2020 draft rules, all the Authorized Persons will have to obtain UAN apart from the Unique Identification Number (UIN) specified in the 2018 rules.

For easy understanding, UAN is your unique Id and UIN is like a registration number of the vehicle (here, the drone).

UAN is required by Authorized Persons to become Authorized Manufacturer/Importer/Trader/Owner/Operator of the drone.

UAN is granted by DGCA on application by Authorized Person in form UA-1 submitted in the Digital Sky Platform on DGCA website along with following documents prescribed in Schedule I:

i)               Individual: Passport Photo, Proof of Identity and Proof of Address.

ii)             Company: Certificate of Incorporation, Directors’ names & Director Identification Number, Proof of Addresses of Registered Office & Principal place of business.

iii)           Any Other Person: Certificate of Registration, Names Designations & addresses of management persons, and Proof of Registered Address.

GST Number should also be submitted if available.

If there is a change in credentials then the same must be communicated to DGCA and new form UA-1 should be submitted.

UAN unless cancelled will be valid for 5 years.

4)  Fees (In Indian Rupees)

A) UAN

i)               Manufacturer/Importer/Trader: Ten Thousand

ii)             Owner: Five Hundred

iii)           Operator with a fleet of fewer than 10 drones: One Thousand

iv)           Operator with a fleet of more than 10 drones: Five Thousand

Renewal/Change fee: 50% of the issuance fee.

B) UIN

In the 2018 rules, the fee of UIN was fixed at flat Rupees One Thousand.

However, in the 2020 draft rules, the UIN fee is charged according to categories of drones:-

i)               Nano: Hundred

ii)             Micro: Two Hundred

iii)           Small: Five Hundred

iv)           Medium: One Thousand

v)             Large: Two Thousand

C)  Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP)

Like UIN, the fees for UAOP as specified in the 2018 rules has also been revised. Now instead of flat issuance and renewal fees of Rupees Twenty Five Thousand and Ten Thousand respectively, the 2020 draft rules suggest the fee be charged according to drone categories:-

i)               Micro: One Thousand

ii)             Small: Two Thousand

iii)           Medium: Three Thousand

iv)           Large: Five Thousand

Renewal fee: 50% of issuance fee

D)  Unmanned Aircraft Pilot Licence

The fee is as per the drone category:-

i)               Small: One Thousand

ii)             Medium: Two Thousand

iii)           Large: Three Thousand

5)  UAOP required even for Micro Category Drone: In 2018 rules it was mentioned that UAOP was not required for both Nano category drone and Micro category drone.

However, as per the 2020 draft rules, UAOP is required for all drones except Nano category drones.

Thus revised requirements as per 2020 draft rules:

        Permit And Pilot Licence Requirement For UA

CATEGORY	Unmanned Aircraft Operators Permit	Unmanned Aircraft Pilot Licence
Nano	Not Required	Not Required
Micro	Required	Not Required
Small	Required	Required
Medium	Required	Required
Large	Required	Required

The Unmanned Aircraft Pilot Licence is granted by DGCA on an application in form UA-8 on Digital Sky as specified in Schedule VII of the 2020 draft rules.

6)  Renewal of UAOP: The 2020 draft rules clarify that renewal of UAOP will be done by DGCA for five years at a time on an application in the form UA-7 on Digital Sky as per Schedule VI of the 2020 draft rules.

7)  Transfer of drone: The transfer of drone will be done only between two Authorized Persons. It should be done as per Schedule IV of the 2020 draft rules by applying to DGCA on Digital Sky in form UA-5.

On transfer, the UAN of the transferor will be de-linked from the UIN of the drone and linked to that of the transferee.

In case of loss of drone or damage to drone beyond repair, DGCA should be intimated so that the UIN of the damaged drone can be de-registered.

8)  Acceptance of non-compliant drones imported to India: The drones flying in India have to comply with requirements of the Civil Aviation Ministry. If a non-compliant drone is imported into India, it can be made compliant by applying to DGCA.

It should be noted that as per the 2018 rules and also 2020 draft rules, the drone should be ‘No Permission No Take-off’ (NPNT) compliant.

However, on 13^th January 2020, the Ministry announced a voluntary disclosure scheme from 14^th to 31^st January 2020. NPNT was not mandatory for drones disclosed during the said period.

On 9^th June 2020 the Ministry notified that on public request, the disclosure scheme is being re-introduced. This time, the end date of the scheme has not been specified.

On application and submitting necessary documents on Digital Sky, DGCA will issue Drone Acknowledgement Number (DAN) and Ownership Acknowledgement Number (OAN) online.

Then such a person can apply for registration of the drone by applying for UIN in form UA-4 on Digital Sky.

The rules are in the draft stage as of now. If there are any updates to these rules when they are finally notified, I shall update the article accordingly.

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I hope you all found this article informative and interesting. I will try to post interesting articles in an easy language in this blog. Please keep following and also do share your thoughts about the blog and suggestions for future posts. You can ask me questions in the comments section or mail them to me at askme[at]aseemjavablogs[dot]com and I will try to answer them.

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