DGCA mulls remote pilot licence for operating drones

Aviation watchdog will come out with draft norms next week for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles

Aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans to introduce remote pilot licence for operating drones and will come out with draft norms next week for the use of such unmanned aerial vehicles, a senior official said on Thursday.

While commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles is not permitted in the country, there have been instances of drone-like objects being sighted near aerodromes.

Operations were suspended twice last Sunday at the Delhi international airport after pilots spotted drone-like objects at the time of landing.

A senior official from the DGCA said the regulator would come out with draft norms for regulating the use of drones in two or three days or next week.

The draft Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) has been finalised after extensive consultations with various ministries and security agencies.

“Broadly, there is consensus among various ministries on the draft CAR,” the official said, adding that the concept of remote pilot licensing for use of drones would also be there.

According to the official, there is the concept of issuing remote pilot licence for operating drones that meet certain criteria in some countries.

The government had banned the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs), including drones, by any non-government agency, organisation or an individual in October 2014.

In April 2016, the DGCA came out with a draft circular regarding the use of norms for UASs. The draft CAR would be put up for comments from the public, the official said even as he stressed that there is no time frame as of now on when the final regulations would be in place.

To ensure that the CAR has “legal backing”, the rules concerned would also be changed, the official said.

When asked about which entity would be regulating the use of drones, the official said safety aspect would be taken care of by the DGCA while the security issues would be dealt by the security agencies.

Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said there should be “legitimate activities” with respect to drones. “On the civil aviation, we would like to have legitimate activities. Security and safety concerns have to be addressed,” the minister said in response to a query on regulating the use of drones.

In May, civil aviation secretary R N Choubey had said that the issue of tracking of drones is a very major technological challenge.

“How to track whether a particular drone is a bonafide drone or a rogue drone. So that technical aspect we are working on,” he had said.