The presentation is all about drones and their legal background in India. It also gives you information about the permit and UIN requirements along with respect to drone.

1. NOT EVERYTHING WITH WINGS
MAY FLY – DRONE REGULATIONS
IN INDIA
- By Athira Palangat
LexIngenious is a corporate legal advisory and documentation practice established with the purpose of enabling social evolution by providing
legal solutions. The information provided in this presentation is for general information and as per author’s understating of the law and not
to provide any legal advice. Your use of this presentation is at your own risk. No part of this should be used as a substitute for competent
legal advice.

2. WHAT IS A DRONE?
 Anything which can fly, is unmanned (a.k.a. unmanned
aerial vehicle), requires only minimum input from a human
pilot (i.e. almost autonomous).
 Aircraft without pilots on board, whose flight (speed,
navigation, aerobatics etc.) is controlled by onboard
computers directed by remote human operators.

3. USES
Delivery of goods Defense
Photography Recreational use
….and many more!

4. PROS and CONS
PROS CONS
•Saves Lives
•Low Cost
•Low Risk
•Operational Hours
•Accuracy
•Lethal
•Spying
•Deployment
•Limited Abilities
•Civilian Losses
•Counterproductive and Destabilizing
•Too Easy
•Work and Personal Life Balance
•Take Over

5. LEGAL BACKGROUND IN INDIA
YEAR EVENT
October 2014 Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
banned use of drones in India on account of: (i)
privacy and security concerns posed by them;
and (ii) absence of a regulatory framework
governing their operations.
April 2016 Government of India (GOI) banned import of
drones.
November 2017 DGCA released the draft Requirements for
Operation of Civil Remotely Piloted Aircraft
System for permitting operation of civil
remotely piloted aircraft systems (draft
guidelines).

6. TYPES OF DRONES
Classification (under the draft guidelines)
Name Weight
Nano ≤ 250 gm
Micro > 250 gm and < 2 kg
Mini > 2 kg and < 25 kg
Small > 25 kg and < 150 kg
Large > 150 kg

7. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

8. OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

9. MANDATORY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS

10. PERMIT REQUIREMENTS
 Major permit requirements for obtaining the UIN :
(a) air traffic services provider (civil/ defense);
(b) land or property owner (i.e., the area from where the drone will take-off and land);
(c) Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI (MHA);
(d) Department ofTelecommunications, Ministry of Communications;
(e) verification of character and antecedents of the remote pilot from the local police office.
 Other requirements:
(a) details of the remote pilot(s) and her/ his training records;
(b) insurance details of the drone;
(c) security programme,as approved by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS);
(d) intimation to local authorities every time you fly
 Each issued permit will be valid for a period of 5 years, following which it is required to be
renewed.
 DGCA may apply more compliances if it feels so.

11. UIN REQUIREMENTS
PERMISSIONS QUALIFICATIONS
•Unique Identification Number (UIN)
application to DGCA
•Exempted from obtaining UIN:
(a)RPAs in the Nano category with an
intent to fly up to 50 feet above ground
level (AGL); and (b)RPAs owned and
operated by Government security
agencies.
•Import or acquisition of RPAs will also
require permission from the DGCA.
Granted to:
a. a citizen of India;
b. GOI or state governments, or a
company owned or controlled by these
governments;
c. an Indian company or body corporate,
in which (i) the principal place of
business is within India, (ii) the chairman
and at least 2/3rd of board of directors
are citizens of India, and (iii) substantial
ownership and effective control is vested
with Indian nationals; or
d. a company or a corporation registered
outside India, provided it has licensed
the RPAS to (b) or (c) above.

12. HIGHLIGHTS
 'No drone zones / restricted areas' restricting the
operations of drones have been listed in the draft
guidelines. Ex., no drones/ RPAs will be permitted to
operate in sensitive areas like near airports, international
borders and line of control.
 RPAs are permitted to operate only during the day light
and only within the visual line of sight.
 RPAs should not discharge or drop substances unless
specifically permitted to do so.

13.  RPAs should not transport any hazardous material such as
explosives, animal or human payload.
 RPAs should not be flown in any manner to cause danger to
any person or property.
 The operator/ owner will be responsible for safety, security
and access control of the RPAs.
 The operator will also be responsible to ensure that the
privacy of individuals is not compromised.
 In case of loss of RPAs, intimation is to be given to local
administration/ police authorities, BCAS and DGCA.

14.  Specific pilot training requirements are set out for pilots
operating the RPAs, except in case of nano and micro RPAs.
 All civil RPA operators are required to obtain insurance for
any liability/ damage to any third party from any accidents/
incidents.
 The permit may be cancelled or suspended at any time if
operations are not acceptable to DGCA.
 Non-compliance with draft guidelines may result in penal
actions, including actions under the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

15. ISSUES
 Breach of privacy and insurance is not addressed in detail.
 Implementation/ regulation mechanism is not provided for.
 Who takes the permit - pilot or owner?
 Difference between commercial and recreational use should
be made as use, intent, liability, security and damage may be
different under different circumstances.

16.  Permissions are adding to the burden of central and local
government authorities which may at times be unreachable.
 Security clearance procedures including tests and experiments
are bureaucratic and cumbersome.
 Digitization is not envisaged in draft guidelines.
 The number of permissions/ intimations required before flying/
using drone is impractical, especially when used on a large scale,
ex. close to 50,000 Amazon deliveries a day.

17.  Unclear liabilities with respect to drone failure, even when the
manufacturer has complied with the prescribed requirements.
 Mandatory requirement of drone being in direct visual line of
sight of the pilot may limit commercial use.
 Local authorities required to grant permits/ be intimated require
awareness.
 Only Indian resident or Indian company is allowed, so no
flexibility to foreigners or foreign company directly owning
drones in India.

18. SUGGESTIONS
 Make certain areas/ free spaces/ environments available
where use of drones can be experimented.Though
government has identified 22 places, however, only for
manufacturer testing and not for recreational use.
 Clarity on insurance and liabilities in case of failure.
Insurance policies and liability may depend on usage, i.e.,
commercial or recreational.

19.  Training institutions, licensing institutions and
professional standards for pilots may be established.
 Encourage drone making in India instead of using
foreign (especially Chinese) drones.
 Drones may have a digital flight data recorder
system to monitor the flight and data use/ misuse.
 Enforcement agency may be prescribed.

20.  Regulations may focus on facilitating use rather than
restricting the same.
 Transparency and accountability of authorities required
to grant permits and licenses.
 Drones may not be classified based on weight but based
on the weight load capacity.
 Make different provisions for usage in urban and rural
areas.

21. Sources:
NAME LINK
Draft guidelines of 2017 named “Requirements
for Operation of Civil Remotely Piloted Aircraft
System (RPAS)” published by DGCA.
http://www.dgca.nic.in/misc/draft%20cars/CA
R%20-%20UAS%20(Draft_Nov2017).pdf
Press Information Bureau http://pibphoto.nic.in/documents/rlink/2017/
nov/p201711201.pdf
Civilian Drones And India’s Regulatory
Response by Ananth Padmanabhan
http://carnegieendowment.org/files/CP_303_
Ananth_Drones_Final_Web.pdf