The Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA on Saturday released a notification granting "conditional exemption" to government entities under the Union, State, district or authorised government institutions to allow the use of drones. The notification comes at a time when various state governments have adopted the use of drones for enforcing lockdown through drone-mounted cameras and loudspeakers.
Under the new rules, surveillance, aerial photography and public announcements related to COVID-19 have been allowed but an application with the digital sky portal of the DGCA still has to be filed. For other uses, even if related to COVID-19 operations, permission has to be sought separately from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA as per the normal procedure.
The new notification restricts the use of a drone to a height of 200 feet above the ground. The drones will also not be allowed by pick, drop, spray or discharge any substance. The use of drones is also not allowed 5 km from the perimeter of the airports and should be operated in line of sight at all times. The DGCA has also threatened penal action for violation of its latest provisions.
The conditional exemption has been granted only to battery-operated rotary-wing drones only. Use of any other type of Remotely Piloted Aircraft is strictly prohibited.
The DGCA has said that the drone can be operated by authorised agencies or they could engage a third-party drone service provider to provide or operate the drone.
The guidelines also state that the security verification and capability assessment of the drone service provider shall be the sole responsibility of the authorised entity and should be done before operating the RPA.
Only the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Aviation Research Centre (ARC) and central intelligence agencies can fly drones without permission.
Apart from airports, drone usage has also been restricted within 3km of private and defence airports, within 25km of international borders and within 3km of military installations, of state secretariat complexes in state capitals and over eco-sensitive zones.
In August 2018, the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued regulations on operating drones in the country.
Under the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), all drones, other than nano and micro drones locally purchased by civilians and government agencies, would require to file an application for a permit from the DGCA. Clearance is also required from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the application process is time-consuming, permits issued on a case by case basis.
As per the 2018 guidelines, drones are divided into five categories from the smallest (nano) ones being those less than 250 grams and the largest ones those that weigh more than 150 kgs. As per these regulations, the only category of drones exempted from the registration process were government-owned drones, nano and micro drones. Nano drones are those that weigh less than or equal to 250 grams and operate below 50 feet. Micro-drones weigh between 250g and 2kg and operate below 200 feet.
Further, in January 2020, the Civil Aviation Ministry has issued a notice that drone operators can voluntarily disclose that they possess a drone. It has requested drone owners to submit the required information to the government through the Digital Sky portal.
All drone owners are required to complete the process by January 31, 2020. Not registering before the deadline could attract penal action, the Civil Aviation ministry has said.