Government Scraps Requirement of Drone Pilot Licence

The civil aviation ministry on Friday scrapped the requirement of drone pilot licence for operating drones in the country. The Remote Pilot Certificate (RPC) issued by a DGCA-approved drone school through the single window DigitalSky Platform shall be sufficient for operating a drone in India, according to an official. The official also said that no remote pilot certificate shall be required for operating a drone up to 2kg for non-commercial purposes.

A notification amending Drone Rules has been issued by the ministry and the requirement of a drone pilot licence has been abolished with effect from February 11.

The latest move comes days after the government banned import of drones with certain exceptions as part of efforts to promote domestic manufacturing of drones in the country.

The ministry came out with liberalised drone rules in August 2021.

After the rules, the ministry issued the drone airspace map and Product Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in September 2021, UTM policy framework in October 2021. Besides, drone certification scheme and single window DigitalSky Platform were put in place last month.