Drones are not banned in India and it is legal to own and operate drones for both recreational and commercial purposes in the country. In fact, drone industry has rapidly evolved in India in the recent years, with unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs being widely used for a wide range of activities, right from aerial photography and surveillance to agriculture and delivery.
However, owning and operating drones in India is subject to a comprehensive set of rules and regulations overseen by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The first civil aviation requirements for drones came into effect on 1st December 2018. These requirements were replaced by new Drone Rules, 2021. Let’s have a look at the major drone rules in India.
Categorisation of Drones
Drones are classified on the basis of weight. The weight is defined as the maximum all-up weight, including the payload weight. As per the rules, the drones are classified into nano unmanned aircraft system, micro unmanned aircraft system, small unmanned aircraft system, medium unmanned aircraft system and large unmanned aircraft system.
Nano drones weigh less than or equal to 250 gm. Such drones are not required to be registered and no permit is required to operate them. However, nano drones are also subjected to certain restrictions, such as maximum height of 15 metres above ground level, staying at least 6 km away from airports, always flying within the visual line of sight of the operator and prohibition on flying over crowded places and government buildings.
Micro drones weigh more than 250 gm and equal to or less than 2kg. Registration is mandatory for micro drones. However, remote pilot certificate is not required for non-commercial usage of micro drones.
Small drones weigh 2-25 kg, medium drones weigh 25-150 kg and large drones weigh more than 150 kg. All these categories of drones require registration, remote pilot certificate and unique identification number.
Registration and Remote Pilot Certification
All kinds of drones, except nano drones, must be registered on the Digital Sky platform. Each drone is assigned a Unique Identification Number or UIN, akin to a number plate for the drone. DGCA maintains a record of all the issued UINs.
Micro drones and above cannot be operated for commercial purposes without a Remote Pilot Certificate or RPC. It is mandatory to complete training from any DGCA-approved remote pilot training organisation to get an RPC.
No Permission, No Takeoff Policy
Non-nano drones cannot be flown without permission. Prior to each flight, the drone operator is required to seek permission to fly through the Digital Sky platform. The request can be granted or rejected.
