The Civil Aviation ministry has passed that the new Drone Rules 2021 which will substitute the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Rules 2021, the government said in a Gazette notification. Accordingly, the ministry has eased the rules regarding drone operations in the country by reducing the number of forms that need to be filled to operate them from 25 to 5 and the decreasing the types of fees charged from the operator from 72 to 4.

The Drone Rules, 2021, were issued on Wednesday. They replace the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021, which had come into force on March 12 this year.  The fee, according to the new rules, has been reduced to nominal levels and de-linked from the size of the drone.

The rules have abolished the requirement of various approvals, including certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permit, authorization of R&D organization and student remote pilot licence. Other approvals such as unique authorization number, unique prototype identification number and certificate of manufacturing and airworthiness have also been abolished, according to Drone Rules, 2021.

"The new Drone Rules usher in a landmark moment for this sector in India. The rules are based on the premise of trust and self-certification. Approvals, compliance requirements and entry barriers have been significantly reduced," PM Modi tweeted.

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