India’s Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set a number of regulations for the flight of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) commonly known as Drone. 

There are some common rules for all civil drones in India. The manufacturer or importer of a drone needs to make sure that the product’s communication frequency has received a clearance to operate from the Department of Telecom’s (DoT’s) Wireless Planning Commission (WPC), referred to as an Equipment Type Approval (ETA). Not having an ETA for your Drone, will cease any legal fly, irrespective of the category of the Drone. 

All the regulations mentioned below are applicable for all consumer drones, including toys, prototypes as well as to drones used by Homeland Security and Civil industries. But these regulations do not apply to the Ministry of Defence. 

Licence required for drone operation

There are four major licences that one needs to be acquired in order to operate drones in India. The UIN (Unique Identification Number), the UAOP (Unmanned Aircraft Operating Permit), the OAN (Ownership Acknowledgement Number), and the DIN (Drone Identification Number). Owning a Drone without a valid OAN and DAN as well as operation of it without a UAOP and UIN shall meet with penal action as per applicable laws.

Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP)

• A NANO(weighing less than or equal to 250 grams) category Drone can fly unrestricted below 15 meters. 

• A Micro(greater than 250 grams but less than or equal to greater or equal to 2 kilograms) category Drone intended to fly below 60 meters needs procuring of UIN.

For this the owner needs to file an application with the DGCA, and should have the following details 

• Specification sheet, User Manuals, Maintenance Guidelines, Weight & Maximum Capacity of UAV, etc

• Equipment Type Approval (ETA) from the Wireless Planning Commission

• A Security Clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs

• For Drones belonging to SMALL(weighing greater than 2 kilograms but less than or equal to 25 kilograms), MEDIUM(weighing greater than 25 kilograms but less than or equal to 150 kilograms) and LARGE(weighing greater than 150 kilograms) categories, both UIN and UAOP(which is the pilot’s licence) needs to be procured.

To apply for a UAOP, the owner should have the following details

• UIN of the Drone

• Details of training records (With ground training done from a DGCA approved Flight training school)

• Security programme from Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS)

• Permission of Landowner for Takeoff & Landing

• Insurance Details (If applicable)

• Standard Operating Procedures (If you are unsure of this, approach the manufacturer of your product for assistance).

• Details of fees paid

The DGCA issues the UAOP within seven working days provided all the documents are complete. The UAOP shall be valid for five years and not transferable. 

FLIGHT RESTRICTION

Drone flights are restricted to daytime only and that too within “Visual Line of Sight’’ (VLOS). This applies to all categories. Also, along with other SOPs, the DGCA has clarified that no remote pilot can operate more than one RPA at any time and also stipulates that RPAs shall be flown only by someone over 18 years of age.

NO PERMISSION, NO TAKE-OFF (NPNT)

Recently, a new regulation has been added to the existing guidelines known as the NPNT (No Permission, No Take-off). The NPNT is a software, where all drone pilots must create their account and share their own details along with their drone’s details. The software checks whether the RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) and its pilot have the required permissions to operate in Indian airspace as per the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and accordingly authorises each flight.A drone when flown too close or into the Red Zone(Restricted Airspaces) the NPNT software will compel the drone to return-to-home (RTH).

Many licences and regulations may seem stifling for drone flight in the country, but in a country as vast as ours, these measures are necessary to maintain security and safety of the citizens of our country.