Good, but not enough

Proposed regulations for drones should be improved

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has just released a revised draft of proposed rules for operating civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones. The draft invites public comments by December 1 and the expectation is that it will be finalised by the year-end. An earlier draft in mid-2016 faced widespread criticism for proposing a very complicated and restrictive set of rules that was also difficult to enforce. Some of those requirements have been relaxed in the new draft, which now appears more in line with the ground realities. It divides drones, according to weight, into five categories. The