– By Samraddhi Saxena
– Intern IPPCS’21
Abstract
India aims to be one of the fastest-growing markets in terms of drones. On Thursday, August 26, India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) issued a new drone policy that formalises a draft regulation released earlier this summer. Drones have applications in various fields, including transportation, agriculture, defence, law enforcement, surveillance, and emergency response, to name a few. The new Drone Rules 2021 has simplified civil and non-commercial usage of drones. The new Drone Rules 2021 have been a critical improvement towards Drone regulations in India; it has a tourist majority of challenges that will limit the growth of the Indian aviation industry. The new Drone regulation 2021 has been outlined in the liberalized model to ensure user-friendly, easily maintainable, and manageable market practices and the use of drones. Several criteria and clearances have been deleted under the revised guidelines, making drone activities more accessible to civilians. However, specific issues like invasion of data privacy, proper safety protocols etc., remain in the Limelight.
Introduction
The New Drone policy is being seen as a historic achievement for India. In its notification, the Indian government claims that new regulatory rules for usage of drones in India are built on the premise of “trust, self-certification, and monitoring with a minimal scope of intrusion.” It is to be considered a Remarkable development on the regulatory front by the Government of India. In July, just weeks after a drone strike on an Indian Air Force facility in Jammu, the proposed guidelines for the new strategy were announced. Superseding the previous rules released in March 2021, the new rules have a liberalized outlook to them. They not only have ensured user-friendly, more uncomplicated, and simplified medium for Drone regulation but have permitted various core related domains of its application in terms of foreign entity, non-commercial use and licensing policy.
It is evident that this move from a restrictive to a liberalized model is visualised as a step towards making India a’ Drone hub by 2030’. The policy initially set forth approx. Twenty-five forms of security measures have now been reduced to 5 states. This specific change is prima facie an eminent indicator of the liberalized outlook of New Drone rules 2021. This move has been based on instilling confidence among users and boosting the market for drones.
However, notably, the improved Drone rules do carry the scope of future improvements—several arenas hostel to be explored about Drone regulations in India. For example, the geo-fencing, NPNT, real-time tracking beacon has been viewed as a few ‘within consideration’ changes to update the new Drone rules.
New Drone Regulation 2021
The Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) 2018, published in December 2018, were the first complete document describing the parameters for manufacturing, registering, and flying drones. In March of this year, CAR was replaced by Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules 2021. In August 2021, the New Rules 2021 returned the previous rules. The New Rules 2021 defines “a drone” as “an aircraft that can operate autonomously or can be operated remotely without a pilot on board.” The application of the New Drone Rules covers all types of people who own, hold, lease, operate, transfer, or maintain a drone in India and all drones that are currently being used over or in India. The application of Aircraft Rule, 1937 has also been excluded in the case of a drone with a maximum all-up weight of more than 500 kilograms. Additionally, the New rules 2021 centres on the Civil use of Drones only.
There exist no notable changes among the drone classification except that the New Rules have done away with the performance-based reclassification of Nano Drones, which is deemed to benefit the industry at large. In addition, the weight limit for drones has been raised from 300kg to 500kg under the new guidelines, which now include big payload-carrying drones and drone taxis. Also, before registering or licencing drones, there is no requirement for a security clearance. Several approvals, including the unique authorization number, the unique prototype identification number, the certificate of conformity, the certificate of maintenance, the operator permissions, the R&D organisation authorization, and remote pilot instructor authorization, have been phased out. Permission fees have also been cut to nominal levels.
Surprisingly, no type of drones, including Nano Drones, has been exempted from obtaining a UIN (Unique Identification Number). Though a one-step, one-time registration system for drone operators should not be too onerous for them, and it would also secure their accountability. The UIN assigned to a drone is to be linked to the manufacturer’s “unique serial number” and the Drone’s flight control module and remote pilot station. However, the New Rules leave it unclear if the unique serial number will be supplied by the manufacturers or by the authorities to each manufacturer.
The government has lifted limitations on drone activities in India, at least for foreign-owned and controlled Indian corporations (“FOCC”). An interactive airspace map featuring green, yellow, and red zones will be featured on the digital sky platform. The 45-kilometre yellow zone around the airport has been reduced to 12 kilometres. Without obtaining permission, drones can be used in the green site and up to 200 feet away from the airport perimeter. In terms of safety, the Rules place the onus on the drone operator to ensure that the operations do not risk the safety and security of any person or property, either directly or indirectly. The carrying of dangerous goods and weaponry, ammunition, and explosives is forbidden (unless following the Aircraft (Carriage of Dangerous Goods) Rules, 2003).
Future Scope
The previous regimes mandated installing a large number of safety mechanisms on all sorts of drones, which was another source of concern for the business. While the New Rules do not precisely specify these safety features, they state that the government has the authority to notify mandatory safety features such as no permission-no take-off hardware (NPNT) and firmware, real-time tracking beacons, and geofencing capability. The technological infrastructure behind it also needs to be operationalised and strengthened by removing the bugs and simplifying the user interface.
Additionally, The DGCA, in conjunction with QCI, should establish standards for operation and imports to verify that drones and drone components imported fulfil the needs of the local sector and comply with public safety guidelines.
Data privacy may also be violated due to violations of spatial privacy that may occur as a result of the use of drones in a densely populated country like India. Therefore, the Drone Rules should include a clause barring trespass or wilful entry onto an individual’s land or airspace to capture any visual image or a sound recording when the plaintiff is engaged in a private, personal, or familial activity that is offensive to a reasonable person. Such provisions should be per Future Data Protection Law in India.
Conclusion
The new Drone regulations 2021 has embarked the country on a journey towards making user-friendly laws regarding Aviation. This move of the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been seen as a significant boost to the aviation industry and future scope expanding domain. Through this Bird’s eye view of what constitutes the significant changes brought with the new Drone regulation 2021, it is inevitable that law still has scope for evolving. Geo-Fencing, NPNT and proper measures ensuring adequate infrastructure and safety protocols would further solidify the drone regulations. The promised changes will further enhance and pave the way for Drone regulations in India.
References
- Bharat Sharma, “India’s New Drone Rules Explained: No Licence Needed to Fly Drones in India” (IndiaTimes August 26, 2021) <https://www.indiatimes.com/explainers/technology/india-drone-rules-explainer-548087.html> accessed September 14, 2021.
- Pranav Mukul, “Explained: How India’s New Drone Rules Have Been Liberalised” (The Indian Express September 2, 2021) <https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/india-drone-rules-2021-explained-7471914/> accessed September 14, 2021.
- IndiaTimes (n 1).
- Rhik Kundu, “New Rules Make It Easier and Cheaper to Operate Drones” (Mint August 26, 2021) <https://www.livemint.com/news/india/ministry-of-civil-aviation-notifies-liberalized-drone-rules-2021-11629969569226.html> accessed September 14, 2021.
- Indian Express (n 2)
- Mint (n 4)
- IndiaTimes (n 1).
- New Drone Rules, 2021, Section 2(h).
- New Drone Rules, 2021, Section 1(3).
- New Drone Rules, 2021, Section 1(5).
- Mint (n 4)
- Joydeep Bose, “India Notifies Drone Rules 2021, License Regulations Eased: 10 Points” The Hindustan Times (2021) <https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-notifies-drone-rules-2021-license-regulations-eased-10-points-101629958688410.html>.
- Tanya Kukade, Aniruddha Manjumdar and Hufeza tavawalla, “Drone Regime in India Significantly Liberalised: Entry of Foreign Players Permitted” (2021) XI The National Law Review <https://www.natlawreview.com/article/drone-regime-india-significantly-liberalised-entry-foreign-players-permitted> accessed September 14, 2021.
- Ibid.
- Antara Vats, “The Road Ahead for Drone Regulations in India” (Observer Research Foundation 2021) <https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/the-road-ahead-for-drone-regulations-in-india/> accessed September 14, 2021.
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