Drone Rules 2021

Why in news?

• The government unveiled new rules that provide for ease of using drones in India by abolishing certain approvals required earlier.

About Drone Rules 2021:

• The Civil Aviation Ministry’s Drone Rule 2021 makes drone operations simpler for civilian drone operators.

 Key features of Drone Rules 2021:         

• The new rules are built on a premise of trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring.
• No security clearance is required before any registration or license issuance for drones. The requisite fees for permissions have also been reduced to nominal levels.
• Several approvals abolished including unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of maintenance, import clearance etc.
• Ease in compliance:
  • Number of forms reduced from 25 to 5, types of fee reduced from 72 to 4 etc.
• Digital sky platform
  • Digital sky platform shall be developed as a user-friendly single-window system.  There will be minimal human interface and most permissions will be self-generated.
  • Interactive airspace map with green, yellow, and red zones will be displayed on the digital sky platform.
  • The yellow zone has been reduced from 45km to 12km from the airport perimeter.
  • No permission is required for operating a drone in the green zone
• No remote pilot licence required for micro drones (for non-commercial use) and nano drones.
• No restriction on foreign ownership in Indian drone companies. 
• Drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries.
• Drone promotion council to be set up by Government with participation from academia, startups and other stakeholders to facilitate a growth-oriented regulatory regime.
• Easing import of drones:
  • Import of drones to be regulated by DGFT.
  • Requirement of import clearance from DGCA abolished.
• Under the new rules, coverage of drones has been increased from 300kg to 500kg, now including heavy payload-carrying drones and drone taxis.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Which of the following statements are correct regarding drone regulation in India?

1. Foreign ownership in Indian drone companies are prohibited in India

2. No permission is required for operating drones in green zones

3. Import of drones are banned in India

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 2 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer