Draft Unmanned Aircraft System Rules 2020

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the draft rules, known as Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020, on June 2 for importing, manufacturing, and owning drones as well as for drone ports, or airports for drones.

• It has invited comments from stakeholders within 30 days, following which the rules will be finalised.

About:

• The draft rules by the Centre come 18 months after it mandated that drone owners will have to get their equipment registered with the DGCA and allowed their use within the visual range.

• Rule number 36 and 38 in the Ministry’s draft state that no unmanned aircraft shall carry any payload unless specified by the Director-General of DGCA. Neither shall a person “drop or project or cause or permit to be dropped or projected from a UAS (unmanned aircraft system) in motion anything,” except when specified.

Permission for trials:

• The rules come at a time the DGCA has permitted food startups like Zomato and Swiggy to conduct trials for drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). As many as 13 consortia, including SpiceJet, have received permissions from the aviation safety watchdog to conduct trials.

• A DGCA official explained that trials for these 13 companies could take up to six months to conclude. Each of these companies will then submit a report to the DGCA, which will then examine the feasibility of remote operations of drones.

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation informed that there is a separate set of rules which will enable the use of drones for e-commerce or delivering medical supplies that may take at least a year. This time-frame may be too optimistic, as regulatory clearances are slow and tardy.