LAW ON DRONES
INTRODUCTION
The usage of Drones in India is catching up with that in other nations and gaining considerable momentum. India does not have a specific Act on Drones. However, Aircraft Act 1934 is the basic Act governing all the matters relating to civil aviation. Aircraft Act 1934 was amended recently in the year 2000 which is known as The Aircraft Amendment Act 2020. The Central Government therefore in exercise of the powers conferred by n 5, sub-section (2) of section 10 and sections 10A, 10B and 12A of the Aircraft Act, 1934 (22 of 1934), has made the ‘Drone Rules 2021’.
DEFINITION
Section 2 of the Drone Rules 2021 defines:
‘Drone’ as an unmanned aircraft system.
‘Unmanned Aircraft system’ means an aircraft that can operate autonomously or can be operated remotely without a pilot on board.
CATEGORISATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM
The unmanned aircraft shall be categorised into the following three categories namely:
- Aeroplane
- Rotorcraft; and
- Hybrid unmanned Aircraft system
CLASSIFICATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM (DRONES)
The classification of Drones is based on the maximum all-up weight including payload. They are classified as follows:
- Nano unmanned aircraft system: weighing less than or equal to 250 grams;
- Micro unmanned aircraft system: weighing more than 250 grams, but less than or equal to 2 kilograms;
- Small unmanned aircraft system: weighing more than 2 kilograms, but less than or equal to 25 kilograms;
- Medium unmanned aircraft system: weighing more than 25 kilograms, but less than or equal to 150 kilograms; and
- Large unmanned aircraft system: weighing more than 150 kilograms.
RESTRICTION ON USAGE OF DRONES
No person is allowed under the law to use and operate Drones without any valid license or certification from the Director General of Civil Aviation.
CERTIFICATE FOR OPERATION OF DRONES
The Director General of civil Aviation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation or any entity authorised by the Director General may issue a certificate for operating Drones known as ‘Type Certificate’.
PROCEDURE FOR TYPE CERTIFICATE
Any person willing to obtain a type certificate shall make an application on the form D-1 on the digital sky platform along with payment of prescribed fee and supporting documents. Also, the Drone shall be physically handed over to the Quality council of India which is the authorised testing entity of the Drones.
The Director General of civil aviation on satisfying itself with the report of the Testing Agency and other eligibility conditions shall issue a type certificate to the applicant.
EXEMPTION
There is no need to obtain a Type Certificate for the following types of Drones:
- A model remotely piloted aircraft system
- A nano unmanned aircraft system
WHETHER FOREIGN DRONES CAN BE IMPORTED TO INDIA
The Drones can be Imported to India and the process of Import shall be regulated by The Director General of civil Aviation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation or any entity authorised by the Director General.
REGISTRATION OF A DRONE
The Registration of a Drone shall be done on the digital sky platform of Director General of Civil Aviation website. A unique identification number is allotted to each Drone on successful Registration.
MANUFACTURING OF DRONES
The following steps are to be followed for obtaining certificate of Manufacture and Airworthiness (CMA)
- Obtaining a Unique Authorisation Number (UAN) for Manufacturer from DGCA.
- Obtaining Equipment Type Approval (ETA) from Regional Licensing Officer.
- Obtaining Unique prototype identification number of the Drone from DGCA.
- Manufacturing of prototype Drone.
- Finally, obtaining CMA from DGCA.
AIRSPACE MAP
The Airspace of India is divided into 3 zones for the purpose of operation of Drones. They are:
- Red Zone – Red zone is the ‘no-drone zone’ within which drones can be operated only after permission from the Central Government.
- Yellow Zone – Yellow zone is the airspace above 400 feet in a designated green zone; above 200 feet in the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport and above ground in the area located between 5-8 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.
- Green Zone – Green zone is the airspace up to 400 feet that has not been designated as a red or yellow zone; and upto 200 feet above the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.
The Airspace map for Drone operations is so designed as to be programmatically accessible through a machine-readable Application Programming Interface and interactive so that unmanned aircraft system pilots shall be able to plot their proposed flight plan and easily identify the zone within which it falls so as to assess whether or not they need to make an application for prior approval. The Central Government from time to time update the changes related to status of an area within different zones of the airspace map on digital sky platform.
ZONE-WISE RESTRICTION FOR THE OPERATION OF DRONES
It is not required to take any permission to operate Drones in a Green Zone with an all-up weight up to 500kgs. However, the operation of drones in Red or Yellow zones requires the permission of operation from the nearest Air Traffic Controller authorities like the Indian Air Force, Airports Authority of India, Indian Navy, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as the case may and Central Government or any entity authorized by the Central Government.
REMOTE PILOT LICENSE
A Drone shall not be operated by any person other than a holder of a valid remote pilot licence enlisted on the digital sky platform.
ELIGIBILITY
An individual shall be eligible to obtain a remote pilot licence, if he–– (a) is not less than eighteen years of age and not more than sixty-five years of age; (b) has passed the class tenth examination or its equivalent from a recognised Board; and (c) has successfully completed such training as may be specified by the Director General, from any authorised remote pilot training organisation.
EXEMPTION
No remote pilot license shall be required for –– (a) operating a nano unmanned aircraft system; and (b) operating a micro unmanned aircraft system for non-commercial purposes.
CONCLUSION
With the introduction of the Drone Rules 2021, the Central Government’s initiative to promote Drone Industry is visible, however, it needs more liberalisation of policy to compete with international manufacturers and operators.
SPACE LAW IN INDIA
INTRODUCTION
The Indian Space programme started in the year 1962 with setting up of Indian National Committee on space research (INCOSPAR) by the Father of the Indian space programme i.e., Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Subsequently with the increasing space activities globally as a result of Cold War India became signatory to the under mentioned International treaties:
- Outer Space Treaty 1967
- Convention on International Liability for Damage caused by space object 1979.
- Moon Treaty in 1982
Further, the space activities in India have been governed by the Department of space which is headed by the Prime Minister of India.
DOMESTIC SPACE LAW
India does not have any specific act on space, though it has got one of the biggest space organizations in the world i.e ISRO. The reason for not having a specific act till now is as follows:
- First, India didn’t have a private sector with any intent or willingness to invest in India’s outer space ambitions.
- Secondly, for a long time, the Indian Space programme was not looking to explore space or send unmanned or even manned missions to outer space.
However, with the increasing potential of the space programme, the willingness of the private sector to invest in India’s outer space, and with increasing missions to the moon and Mars, there has been a radical change in the Indian Space programme. The Space Activities Bill 2017 was introduced by the Indian Government to make a change in terms of the space policies of India. The draft bill has completed public and legal consultation and it has now been sent for further approvals.
INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANISATION (ISRO)
ISRO was previously the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is the space agency of India. The organization is involved in science, engineering, and technology to harvest the benefits of outer space for India and mankind. ISRO is a major constituent of the Department of Space (DOS), Government of India. The department executes the Indian Space Programme Primarily through various under-mentioned Centres or units within ISRO.
INSPACe
IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) is a single-window nodal agency established to boost the commercialization of Indian space activities.
CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises)
ANTRIX
As the commercial and marketing arm of ISRO, Antrix is engaged in providing Space products and services to international customers worldwide.
NSIL (New Space India Limited)
NSIL is the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the primary responsibility of enabling Indian industries to take up high-technology space-related activities and is also responsible for the promotion and commercial exploitation of the products and services emanating from the Indian space program.
CONCLUSION
In the absence of any specific act on Space Indian space program is guided by the Rules made by the Department of Space along with related legislation and regulations of the Government of India. In addition, policies such as Remote Sensing Data Policy, SATCOM policy, Mapping policy, etc provide the relevant policy guidelines.
Authored by Venkatesh ANS, Legal Intern, LawDiktat
Edited by Sahid, Team Member, LawDiktat