E-commerce players may not be allowed to use unmanned aerial systems (UAS) like ‘drone’ for commercial purposes even after the United Nations’ global body for airlines, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), came out with standards and policies for UAS, owing to the country’s poor civil aviation standards.
Top government sources said India’s poor civil aviation standards has made external agencies firmly believe that use of UAS in India’s air space will be a risky venture. India’s aviation sector was downgraded by United States Federal Aviation Administration (USFAA) in January last year over air safety oversight.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) banned the use of drones in September last year and said it is working on formulating rules and regulations in this regard but will wait till the ICAO publishes Standards And Recommended Practices (SARPs) for their certification and operation.
The DGCA is now taking help on the civil operation of UAS from air navigation service providers, the ministry of defence and ministry of home and other concerned security agencies, who have sought feedback from the aviation regulator concerning the use of UAVs.
Till regulations are issued, no non-government agency, organisation, or an individual can launch a UAS in Indian civil airspace for any purpose.
Before the complete DGCA ban on use of UAVs in September last year, many commercial establishments in India including e-tailers like Amazon had announced plans to use drones for delivery. The Mumbai police also used it earlier as a surveillance tool to track festivals and large political rallies.
A top government official told FE that given the aviation standards in India, the use of UAV appears remote at least for next 5-7 years. Excluding military applications, Canada and Australia are at the forefront of the drones industry, largely because they have a vast and underused airspace.
Last year, DGCA’s circular pointed out that “airspace over cities in India has high density of manned aircraft traffic. Due to lack of regulation, operating procedures, standards and uncertainty of the technology, UAS poses threat for air collisions and accidents.”