The Drone Rules (New Rules) 2021 defines drones as “an aircraft that can operate autonomously or can be operated remotely without a pilot on board.” Drones, also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), were previously primarily used to carry lethal weapons. However, with technological advancements, their use for civilian purposes has evolved in recent years. Drones provide productivity and efficiency at low costs for a variety of activities. In India, for instance, drones were used to ward off locust attacks and deliver Covid-19 vaccines, and central and state ministries and industry players have scaled-up experiments since 2020 on drone usage for land surveys, disaster management, law enforcement, aerial surveillance, and agricultural activities across the country. Improvements in access and quality of geospatial data due to the National Geospatial Policy, 2021 have also facilitated the use of drones across sectors. However, risks to infrastructure and citizen safety in urban environments due to a collision with another unmanned or manned vehicle remain in low altitude uses. Moreover, most drones have modern built-in cameras that can easily violate citizens’ spatial and informational privacy.

With the aim of becoming a global drone hub by 2030, India has adopted an enabling policy ecosystem for drones since August 2021. In what this brief collectively calls the Drone Regulations 3.0, it includes the Drone Rules (New Rules) in August 2021, a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme in September, National Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management Policy Framework (UTM 2.0) in October, the certification scheme for unmanned aircraft systems (CSUAS) in January 2022, the drone import policy and Drone (Amendment) Rules in February 2022. Additionally, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) released a set of guidelines for drone insurance in February 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture released standard operating protocols (SOPs) to streamline the use of drones for spraying soil nutrients and pesticides in December, and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released a guidance document for using drones in healthcare in June 2022.

With the Drone Regulations 3.0, the government appears to be attempting to balance the growth of the domestic drone industry and the need to regulate risks alongside industry requirements by proactively involving industry actors in the policymaking process. This co-regulatory approach was largely missing in previous drone-related policy documents, with the government keen to independently understand the technology and pre-emptively address risks. The government’s role as the largest deployer of drones produced by private sector enterprises may have also contributed to adopting this approach.

As drone usage increases in India, it is imperative to assess developments in the domestic regulatory environment for drones since 2014 in the backdrop of the global regulatory approach. Moreover, drones are categorised as remotely piloted aircraft systems, model remotely piloted aircraft systems, and autonomous unmanned aircraft systems. Autonomous unmanned aircraft systems use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies like computer vision to detect and avoid obstacles. Drone Regulations 3.0 could perhaps guide the approach for legislative interventions to regulate high-risk use cases of AI. This brief also recommends measures to address the remaining gaps and inconsistencies in Drone Regulations 3.0 to make India a global drone hub. For instance, the regulatory regime for civilian drones must provide pathways to ensure air space management to avoid collisions, standards for security, informational and spatial privacy of citizens, and so on. These standards must be consistent as they determine the drone structure, components, and technology used within them. The scope of this brief is limited to civilian drones as the government views the issues of military drones as separate from civilian drones.

The paper can be accessed by clicking here.

This paper is authored by Antara Vats.