Progressive policy

Proposed drone rules will open up new opportunities

The new draft policy on drones indicates the government is looking to liberalise the segment. The Drone Rules 2021 come just four months after the previous policy came into effect, signifying the government’s willingness to do fast course correction. Of greater significance is the fact that the new draft was issued within a few days of the drone attack in Jammu, signalling the government’s resolve to carry the reforms process forward. Once notified, the new rules will supersede the existing Unmanned Aircraft System Rules 2021. The rules reduce the paperwork considerably with an eye to “trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring”. Though the new policy still retains a lot of red tape, it’s a vast improvement over the earlier one. For example, drone operators will now have to fill five forms from the earlier mandatory 25 forms.

The draft abolishes the requirement of approvals like a certificate of conformance, a certificate of maintenance, import clearances, a unique prototype registration number, authorisation for a research and development (R&D) organisation using drones, and a student remote pilot licence. The rules also allow seamless acceptance of existing drones and creation of operator permits. The process of certification, ownership and transfer and re-registration has been made easier. Importantly, foreign operators can also use drones freely in Indian airspace. This enables e-commerce majors like Amazon to consider drone-based deliveries. The new rules cover drones weighing up to 500 kg instead of 300 kg earlier. This sets the stage for drone taxis and drone ambulances. No pilot licence will be required to fly micro drones (weight limit of 2 kg) for non-commercial use, or nano drones (weight limit 250 grams), and for R&D organisations using drones. Drone corridors will also be developed for cargo deliveries and a drone promotion council will be set up to enable future regulation as technology develops.

In this regard, an interactive airspace map with green, yellow and red zones will be developed and displayed on the digital sky platform within 30 days of notification. The critical yellow zone is to be reduced from the earlier 45 km to 12 km from an airport perimeter. No permission will be required to fly drones at heights of up to 400 feet in green zones, or to fly drones at heights of up to 200 feet in the zone of 8-12 km of an airport. This zoning can be dynamically updated at need, and geo-fencing technology will be used to prohibit or limit drones flying in the red zone, close to airports or sensitive military and VIP locations. Geo fencing consists of creating machine-readable airspace “maps”, which can be directly programmed into drones to ensure they don’t break into the red zone.

No security clearance will be required before making an application for registration, or pilot licensing. Registration numbers can be self-generated on the digital sky platform. The fees have been reduced and the maximum penalty for violation is capped at Rs 1 lakh (assuming other laws are not broken). Operators will be given six months for compliance as and when new safety regulations like “no permission-no takeoff”, real-time tracking beacons and geo-fencing are introduced. The new policy should quickly enable activities ranging from news programming and cargo delivery, and artistic creations, to utilitarian tasks like digital mapping and crop-spraying. It will also make it easier for hobbyists and engineers to test new designs, thereby providing a push to this nascent industry.