Drone rules eased: What you need to know
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Simpler drone rules
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has eased the rules on drone operations in the country. The Drone Rules, 2021, issued this week has easier forms, a simpler fee structure and has smoother procedure for transfer and deregistration of drones.
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No restriction on foreign ownership
There will be no restriction on drone operations by foreign-owned companies registered in India. The types of fees charged from the operator has been decreased from 72 to 4. The fee has been reduced to nominal levels and de-linked from the size of the drone.
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Pilot fee reduced
No pilot licence will be required for micro drones (for non-commercial use) and nano drones.The fee for a remote pilot licence has been reduced from Rs 3,000 (for a large drone) to Rs 100 for all categories of drones and it is valid for 10 years.
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Mandatory registration
The new rules make it mandatory for all drones to be registered. Officials warn that agencies will be able identify those which are rogue through tracking mechanisms.
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Many approvals scrapped
The new rules have abolished the requirement of these approvals -- certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance and operator permit. Other approvals such as unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number and certificate of manufacturing and airworthiness have also been abolished.
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Green, yellow and red zones
No flight permission will now be required for up to 400 feet in "green zones" and up to 200 feet in the area between 8 and 12 km from the airport perimeter."Green zones" are the airspace up to a vertical distance of 400 feet that have not been designated as red zone or yellow zone in the airspace map.