Weeks After Jammu Air Force Station Attack, MOCA Issues Draft Of Refreshed Drone Policy

The MOCA has issue drone rules stating "there is need to regulate the drone-related activities in a manner such that they do not pose any risk to the safety or security of people and assets".

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New Delhi: Just weeks after the drone attack at the Air Force station in Jammu, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued the draft of the new The Drone Rules, 2021 for public consultation. The last date for receipt of public comments is August 5th, 2021.

These drone rules which are "built on a premise of trust, self-certification, and non-intrusive monitoring" will replace the UAS Rules 2021 which were released on 12 March 2021.

Key takeaways of the draft rules:

• The new draft rules suggest the abolition of approvals for certain criteria, reduction of forms to six from 25 and relaxation in granting permission. 
• The ministry said that it has reduced the fees to nominal levels, and it now has no linkage with the size of the drone. 
• Safety features like ‘No permission – no take-off’ (NPNT), real-time tracking beacon, geo-fencing, etc. to be notified in the future. A six-month lead time will be provided for compliance. 
• A digital sky platform will be developed as a business-friendly single-window online system that will have a minimal human interface and most permissions will be self-generated.
• There will be an interactive airspace map with green, yellow, and red zones will be displayed on the digital sky platform. The Yellow zone has been reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the airport perimeter. No flight permission required up to 400 feet in green zones and up to 200 feet in the area between 8 and 12 km from the airport perimeter.
• No pilot licence required for micro drones (for non-commercial use), nano drones and for R&D organisations.
• The rules say that there will be no restriction on drone operations by foreign-owned companies registered in India. However, the import of drones and drone components to be regulated by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
• Manufacturers may generate their drone’s unique identification number on the digital sky platform through the self-certification route. There will be an easier process prescribed for the transfer and deregistration of drones.
• No security clearance is required before any registration or license issuance, the rules state that there will be no requirement of a certificate of airworthiness, unique identification number, prior permission and remote pilot licence for R&D entities.
• Coverage of drones under Drone Rules, 2021 increased from 300 kg to 500 kg which will cover drone taxis as well. All drone training and testing to be carried out by an authorised drone school.  DGCA shall prescribe training requirements, oversee drone schools and provide pilot licences online. Issuance of Certificate of Airworthiness delegated to Quality Council of India and certification entities authorised by it.
• Standard operating procedures (SOP) and training procedure manuals (TPM) will be prescribed by DGCA on the digital sky platform for self-monitoring by users. 
• The maximum penalty has been reduced to ₹1 lakh, the ministry said, adding that drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the drone attack which took place in Jammu & Kashmir which was attended with the Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval were also present in the meeting.