TOPIC : DRAFT DRONE RULES: IMPETUS TO FUTURE TECH

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THE CONTEXT: On 15 July, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has unveiled the Draft Drone Rules, 2021 based on “trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring”. The new rules would replace the existing UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) Rules, 2021. This article analyses various facets of new draft rules.

• The decision to liberalize the drone policy showcases the government’s bold approach to promote the use of the drone and focus on the development of counter-drone technology. The current draft is a welcome move and will go a long way in facilitating investments in drone technology in India.

DRONES

• A Drone, in technological terms, is an unmanned aircraft. Essentially, a drone is a flying robot that can be remotely controlled or fly autonomously through software-controlled flight plans in their embedded systems, working in conjunction with onboard sensors and GPS.
• There are three subsets of Unmanned Aircraft- Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Autonomous Aircraft, and Model Aircraft.
• A drone is made of light composite materials which help reduce weight and increase its motion operation. The material strength allows drones to fly at extremely high altitudes.
• UAV drones are packed with state-of-the-art technologies such as infrared cameras, GPS, and laser.
• The latest high-tech drones are equipped with collision avoidance systems.

DRAFT DRONE RULES, 2021

AIM

• Making India a drone-friendly nation

UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER

• Each drone has been specified to have a unique identification number with the transmission of its location, altitude, speed, etc. Any drone missing a unique id number with the other details will be a rogue drone.
• Every flight of the drone will be monitored in the digital sky platform.

DIGITAL SKY PLATFORM

• It is an initiative by MoCA to provide a secure and scalable platform that supports drone technology frameworks, such as NPNT (no permission, no take-off), designed to enable flight permission digitally and manage unmanned aircraft operations and traffic efficiently.
• There will be a minimal human interface on the digital sky platform and most permission will be self-generated.

SIMPLIFIED REQUIREMENTS

• Requirements for granting permission for the acquisition and usage of drones have been simplified.
• Abolish the need for various approvals, like certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permits, authorization of R&D organization, and student remote pilot license.
• The provisions under Aircraft Rules, 1937 will not apply to drones weighing up to 500 kg.

DRONE CORRIDORS

• The Centre also plans to set up drone corridors for cargo delivery.

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

• Earlier there used to be 25 forms to be filled up which now has been reduced to 5. Clarity about registration and remote-pilot licensing have been given. Insurance of drones has also been taken care of.

DIVISION OF COUNTRY IN ZONES

• The digital sky platform will have an interactive airspace map dividing the country into green, yellow, and red zones.
• While the yellow zone has been reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the nearby airport perimeter, no flight permission is required up to 400 feet in green zones and up to 200 feet in the area between 8 and 12 km from the airport perimeter.

BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF NEW RULES

BENEFITS

• It will increase the sales of drones in the country and create a market for drones in India.
• New Rules will give a boost to employment and commercial sales of drones in India.
• The adoption of drones in R&D is also expected to boost the way for pilot projects in India that are likely to help the government come out with a policy for the commercial use of drones as well.
• New rules to boost investments in the drones sector

CHALLENGES /LIMITATIONS

• The overall size of the Indian market is much smaller when compared to global markets.
• Drone imports will still be controlled by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
• The manufacturing industry is looking for a lot more clarity on the timelines on permissions to operate commercial drones, as well as the permissions where drones will be allowed to operate.
• The timeline for the creation of new drones corridor and drone promotion corridor not given.
• The industry is also likely to wait for more clarity on the taxation rate of drones and has requested the government to attract and promote foreign direct investment to supplement domestic capital, technology, and skills for accelerated economic growth.
• The Indian drone market is dependent on imports for drone components.
• As per the new draft, the rules and regulations do not apply to the army, navy, or air force. However, it still includes paramilitary forces. BSF is suffering a lot of issues due to the drones coming across the lines.
• Only a few states have the infrastructure to train pilots that can operate a drone.
• 9% of drones are battery powered and use solar energy. Rest 90% use fuel engines that are noisy, polluting, and heavy with a hazardous fuel

DRONE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR

APPLICATION OF DRONE TECHNOLOGY

• Drone systems can be used as an asymmetric weapon against terrorist attacks. The drones can be integrated into the national airspace system.
• The drone technology in the SVAMITVA scheme was launched by the Government of India. It has helped about half a million village residents to get their property cards by mapping out the areas.
• In the agriculture sector, micronutrients can be spread with the help of drones. It can also be used for performing surveys for identifying the challenges faced by the farmers.
• The railways are using drones for track monitoring.
• Telecom companies are using drones for monitoring the tower.
• Drones are also significant for law enforcement agencies, fire, and emergency services wherever human intervention is not safe and the healthcare services.

FEW SUCCESS STORIES OF DRONE USE

• Odisha government used drones to map 250,000 slum households to ensure speedy and accurate distribution of land rights
• Gujarat is using ‘Tri Netra’ drones to track illegal mining.
• The union government and NHAI is using drones to monitor rural road construction projects
• The Pilbhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh used to capture and tranquilize a tiger that was a man-eater using drones.

R&D IN THE DRONE SECTOR

• Drones are one of the 24 sectors that are taken care of by the Government of India under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as the area where the Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme can be well implemented.
• India not only has a very extensive R&D being carried out at institutions like IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, etc but also at the same time the research is being transformed into products.
• India has more than 130 start-ups registered with IITs and other companies for introducing drones in multiple application areas.

INDIA’S DRONE MARKET

• According to BIS Research, the global drone market, which is currently dominated by the US, China, and Israel, will touch $28.47 billion this year and India will comprise about 4.25 percent of that. Consequently, the Indian drone market is expected to reach $1.21 billion in 2021.
• According to Golden Sach, the Indian drone market is expected to reach $1.8 billion by 2025-26 growing at a CAGR of 14.61 percent.
• According to an estimate by E&Y and FICCI, the projected market size for drones in India is $885.7 million by 2021.

COVID-19 SCENARIO – EMERGING ROLE OF DRONES IN INDIA

• Drones are playing a significant role in the fight against the coronavirus in support of the following activities undertaken by Police, healthcare, and municipal authorities:

1. Surveillance & Lockdown Enforcement
2. Public Broadcast
3. Monitoring Body Temperatures
4. Medical & emergency food Supplies Delivery
5. Surveying & Mapping
6. Spraying Disinfectants

SPRAYING DISINFECTANTS

• The states of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, etc. have solicited the services of drone companies to spray disinfectants in earmarked areas.
• The COVID 19 pandemic has also prompted several educational institutes-based drone start-ups to innovate and remodel drones to cater to the demands of sanitization.

MONITORING BODY TEMPERATURE

• Drones mounted with thermal cameras have been deployed in cities such as New Delhi and Bengaluru to monitor the body temperature of people.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES DELIVERY

• A drone startup based out of Telangana has successfully demonstrated medical supplies delivery via drones to remote areas. Another startup based in Pune has expressed its intention to work with city authorities in the domain of medical services delivery.
• At IIT Madras, drone research is underway which would be designed to deliver drugs and medicines.

SURVEILLANCE AND ENSURE LOCKDOWN

• States such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, National Capital Region, Karnataka, Telangana, Assam, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu have reportedly deployed drones for surveillance and ensuring lockdown.
• Drones have also been deployed by state authorities in places such as Hyderabad and Bengaluru to plan and organize ground forces deployment to monitor areas.
• In places such as New Delhi and Mumbai, drones have been used to ensure that people are following social distancing norms in public places.
• In places such as Sangli, drones are enabling police forces to ensure social distancing in places near pharmacies and grocery stores.
• In the state of Kerala, drones have been used to disperse the crowd and also check illicit brewing shops and group drinking.

PUBLIC BROADCAST

• Drones mounted with speakers or police sirens have been deployed by states such as Telangana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam to disperse the gathered crowd, encourage people to stay indoors, create social awareness on COVID 19, etc.

MISCELLANEOUS DRONE USE CASES DURING COVID 19

• State forest department authorities in Karnataka used drone services to survey forest areas in Bengaluru to preclude poaching in forest areas.
• The Railway Protection Force in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh has deployed a drone to conduct surveillance in and around railway tracks and other railway assets. The underlying rationale behind drone deployment is to prevent the entrance of migrants from other states via railway tracks on foot and also the prevention of theft from railway premises.

DRONES IN INDIA: WHO CAN BUY THEM, WHAT ARE USAGE CONDITIONS AND HOW GOVT IS CONTROLLING DRONE USE

WHO GOVERNS DRONES?

• Remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) and unmanned aircraft (drones) are governed by the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) from time to time.

GAME OF DRONES: EVOLUTION OF DRONE LAWS IN INDIA

• In 2014, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) banned civilian use of drones.
• Subsequently, in 2018, the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) –Drone Regulations 1.0 was announced, introducing a comparatively radical but basic framework for their operation.
• Drone Regulation 1.0

ü  The Digital Sky Platform will enable online registration of pilots, devices, service providers, and NPNT (no permission, no take-off).

ü  The Digital Sky Platform is a unique unmanned traffic management (UTM) system that is expected to facilitate registration and licensing of drones and operators in addition to giving instant (online) clearances to operators for every flight.

ü  The airspace has been partitioned into Red Zone (flying not permitted), Yellow Zone (controlled airspace), and Green Zone (automatic permission). The restricted locations are airports, near the international border, near the coastline, state secretariat complexes strategic locations, military installations.

ü  All civilian drone operations will be restricted to only during daytime and a maximum of 400 feet altitude.

ü  There can’t be any human or animal payloads, or anything hazardous.

ü  It cannot in any manner cause danger to people or property and insurance will be mandatory to cover third-party damage.

ü  Except for nano drones and those owned by National Technical Research Organisation and the central agencies, the rest would be registered and issued a Unique Identification Number.

• The government did not stop there; it went on to create a Drone Taskforce which then released a comprehensive document – Drone Ecosystem Policy Roadmap in 2019.
• In addition, the government has also released supplemental policies such as the National Counter Rogue Drone Guidelines and the draft Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management Policy.

CATEGORIZATION AND CLASSIFICATION

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has categorized Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into three primary categories and five primary classes. UAS are categorized into:

1. Aeroplane
2. Rotorcraft
3. Hybrid  UAS

• These three types of UAS are further sub-categorized based on their level of autonomy, i.e., remotely piloted UAS, model remotely piloted UAS, and fully autonomous UAS. Apart from these categories, each UAS is classified based on how much it weighs (including the payload). The classification of UAS is as follows:

Nano UAVs             up to 250g

Micro UAVs            250g to 2kg

Mini UAVs              2kg to 25 kg

Small UAVs           25kg to 150kg,

Large UAVs         more than 150kg

WHO CAN FLY DRONES IN INDIA?

• The Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2021, state that no license or permit is needed to fly nano drones.
• Pilots of Micro and Small Drones require a UAS Operator Permit-I (UAOP-I) for all flying purposes. Such drones are limited to the visual line of sight without any payload.
• For the operation of Medium and Large Drones, one would require UAS Operator Permit-II (UAOP-II).Such drones cannot be flown within closed spaces. They also need prior clearance from Air Traffic and Air Defence Control before being flown.
• UAOP-II permits the carriage of goods as well as dangerous goods as per the Aircraft (Carriage of Dangerous Goods) Rules, 2003.
• Both UAOP-I and UAOP-II will remain valid for not more than ten years.

REQUIRED DRONE PILOT LICENSE

• Two types of licenses will determine the issuance of an operator’s permit. These are Student Remote Pilot License and Remote Pilot License. Applicants of any of these licenses should be at least 18 years of age and not more than 65 years of age if flying a drone for commercial activity.
• As for the minimum qualifications, the applicants should have passed class X . Applicants are also required to clear a DGCA specified medical examination and a background check.
• Student Remote Pilot License is issued for a fee by an authorized training organization. It is Valid for a maximum period of 5 years from the date of issuance. These can be renewed for an additional period of 2 years.
• Remote Pilot License is issued for a fee by the DGCA itself and stands valid for a total of 10 years from issuance. These are issued based on training and skill tests from an authorized training organization.
• Both UAOP-I and UAOP-II require a Remote Pilot License “of appropriate class and category.”

DRONE USE CONDITIONS

• No drones should fly over a Prohibited Area.
• The Gazette specifies “Prohibited Area” as “the airspace of defined dimensions, above the land areas or territorial waters of India within which the flights of unmanned aircraft are not permitted.
• Other than the area restrictions, there are limitations on the altitude and speed at which drones can be flown. These are mostly based on the type of drones.

PENALTIES ON FAILURE OF COMPLIANCE

• Individuals flying any drone other than those in the Nano category, for instance, without a valid license or permit, will have to pay a fine of Rs 25,000.
• Flying an unmanned aircraft over no operation area will attract a penalty of Rs 50,000.
• Such penalties extend up to Rs 5 lakh for the manufacturers of drones.

DRONES IN INDIA: A MODEL FOR COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM?

• India presents a classic opportunity to build a replicable model of federalism that is cooperative, creative, constructive, and competitive. A sandbox where states compete not just with each other but also with the Centre is visible in two ongoing programmes are in play – The Medicine from the Sky project, anchored by the Government of Telangana, and the BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) experimental trials anchored by India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• The state of Telangana in partnership with the World Economic Forum, Apollo Hospitals, and thinktank NITI Aayog has called on technologists from across the country to demonstrate the capability of drone-based healthcare delivery.
• This project required coordination among and local governments to shape deliverables on the ground. This has created a distinct pathway through the federal “marble cake” of interrelated policy goals and administrative duties of local, state, and national governments.
• The Telangana experiment is turning this into a science, not just by coordinating with the central government seamlessly but also by mapping stakeholders and their requirements along the way.
• On the other hand, the BVLOS experiments are a coordinated approach by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and supporting regulatory agencies to gather data points.
• Against a backdrop of a quasi-federal structure, drones have navigated a channel of laboratory federalism where several small-scale experiments and exercises have created insights that foster the development of good policy.

REGULATIONS AROUND THE WORLD

USA

• The policy prescribes a compulsory pilot’s license for the UAV operator to operate drones weighing more than 25 kgs.
• For less than 25 kgs, no permission is needed. However, such drones should remain within visual line of sight, cannot be operated at night, and cannot fly more than 400 feet above the ground.
• Currently, the Federal Aviation Authority has started permitting beyond-line-of-sight operations to companies like Amazon.

CHINA

• China has segregated drones as per their weights into four subclasses—0 to 1.5 kilos, 1.5 to 4, 4 to 15, and 15 to 116 kgs. All of them have different rules
• The rules stipulate an online real-time supervision system that includes a “UAS cloud” and an “electronic fence.” The cloud is a dynamic database management system that monitors flight data in real-time, and the fence is a software and hardware system that earmarks specific areas as prohibited zones and automatically restrains aircraft from entering. UAVs weighing above 4 kilos must integrate these systems.
• The rules also allow beyond-line-of-sight flying and are aiming for the complete integration of manned and unmanned aircraft.

INTERNATIONAL DRONE GOVERNANCE

• Drones are dual-use technology, meaning they have a civilian and a military purpose. At the international level, policy regulations for drones are still in the making.
• The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been the primary platform leading global governance efforts.

WAY FORWARD

• There should be the unification of the laws where this sector is cross-cutting with sectors that come under the domain of other ministries.
• Drone imports controlled by DGFT could be done away with for the time being.
• The government needs to create an equivalent of ‘Silicon Valley’ for the drones so that organizations dealing with hardware, software, artificial intelligence, etc. can come together and take this endeavor forward.
• Companies working on unmanned traffic management (UTM) should collaborate with the government of India to provide unmanned traffic information as well as work as service providers for tracking drones.
• Drones are costly equipment. There is a huge opportunity for insurance and insurance facilitation companies to explore this area.
• A ‘Drone Promotion Council’ is the need of the hour.
• There have to be training programs for drone pilots.

CONCLUSION: The draft drone policy is a welcome change. It is a well-thought-out and simplified policy document. It aligns with Prime Minister Modi’s vision for India, in terms of reducing unemployment, improving ease of doing business, generating self-employment avenues, and emerging as a global leader in technology. What the future holds will entirely depend on how these rules are interpreted on the ground and how much red-tapism we are willing to shun.