- Digital Sky Platform, as part of Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR), for registration of drones, pilots, and operators for online permission was recently launched.
- Nano drones in India can start flying legally from now.
- For micro and above categories, operators and pilots are required to register on the Digital Sky Portal.
Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR):
- In August 2018, Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) was announced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to enable safe flying of RPAS in India.
- The CAR detailed the obligations of operators, remote pilots/users and manufacturers for safe operations of RPAS and co-operative use of airspace.
- CAR is for Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS), popularly referred to as drones.
- As per the regulation, there are 5 categories of RPAS categorized by weight, namely nano, micro, small, medium and large.
- As of now, RPAS was allowed to operate within visual line of sight (VLoS), during day time only, and upto maximum400 ft. altitude.
Digital Sky Platform:
- The platform has begun accepting registrations of users.
- Payments for Unmanned Aerial Operator’s Permit (UAOP) and Unique Identification Numbers (UIN) will be accepted through the Bharat Kosh (bharatkosh.gov.in) portal.
- It is envisioned that in the future Digital Sky Service Providers (DSPs) will be extending the functionality of the platform through Application Program Interfaces (APIs).
