The Centre on Monday released a list of regulations for the commercial use of drones. Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu said the regulations would enable the safe and commercial usage of drones starting from December 1.
The rules require the device, its owner and pilot to undergo a one-time registration process. All remotely piloted aircraft systems – except nano drones and those owned by the National Technical Research Organisation, the Aviation Research Centre and the central intelligence agencies – have to be registered. They will be provided a unique identification number.
Areas around airports, near international borders, Vijay Chowk in New Delhi, state secretariat buildings, strategic locations and vital and military installations are no-go areas for drones.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation said it had taken the government several years to formulate the regulations as the technology in the sector evolves very rapidly. India’s security environment “necessitates extra precautions”, the ministry added. “The regulations are intended to enable visual line-of-sight, daytime-only operations to a maximum altitude of 400 feet,” Suresh Prabhu said.
The ministry said its “digital sky platform” was a first-of-its-kind national unmanned traffic management system that would implement a “no permission, no takeoff” policy. Prabhu said Minister of State Jayant Sinha would head a Drone Task Force to formulate the next version of regulations.
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