Regulations for Civil Use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System

Civil aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) published final guidelines for operating drones or Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems by ordinary citizens (on August 27, 2018). The guidelines come into effect on December 1, 2018. The guidelines legalizes the use of drones for civilian purpose subject to various requirements and clearances.

• Types of Drones Regularized: DGCA has identified multiple categories of drones, which can be broadly classified as- Nano (weighing up to 250 g); Micro (more than 250 g but less than 2 kg); Small (weighing 2 kg to25kg); Medium (weighing from 25kg to 150kg); Large (weighing greater than 150kg).
• Identification Number: Every drone bigger than Nano must obtain a unique identification number (UIN) from the aviation regulator.
• Flying Conditions: All drones other than those in the Nano category must meet mandatory equipment requirements such as GPS, anti-collision light, ID plate, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and SIM facilities etc.
• Consent Required: Different consent criteria have been listed for the different size of drones (nano, micro etc.).
• Restrictions Imposed: The regulator (DGCA) has listed 12 categories of “no-drone zones”. These include the area up to 5 km from the perimeters of the high-traffic airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangaluru and Hyderabad. For other airports, the no-drone zone extends up to 3 km. Drones cannot fly closer than 25 km. of international borders, including the Line of Control and Line of Actual Control.