DGCA yet to formulate regulatory mechanism for private drones

January 28, 2015 03:02 pm | Updated April 07, 2016 05:26 am IST - NEW DELHI:

A remote controll drone delivers Francesco Pizza in South Mumbai, recently seen in a picture grab from Feansesco Pizza's official Face Book page.

A remote controll drone delivers Francesco Pizza in South Mumbai, recently seen in a picture grab from Feansesco Pizza's official Face Book page.

Even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has banned use of drones for commercial purposes, it is yet to formulate a mechanism to regulate their operations in keeping with the associated security concerns.

The issue has gained significance particularly after a drone, being flown for recreational purposes, crashed into a tree in the White House lawns in the United States on Monday. It reportedly went undetected by the highly sophisticated radar system installed at the seat of power.

“The incident is, in a way, a confirmation of our concerns over approval for use of drones by private entities without having a regulatory mechanism in place,”said an official, adding that the commercial use of drones was banned last September by the DGCA citing air-space security reasons till a regulatory mechanism was devised.

Commercial use of drones was brought to the notice of the government after the Mumbai Police raised questions on a restaurant carrying out a test delivery of pizza to a customer using an unmanned aerial vehicle. Global e-commerce giant Amazon also had plans to use drones as part of goods-delivery mechanism.

Such use of drones were recorded at least thrice in Mumbai last year.

A senior police officer said: “There has to be an institutionalised system making it a must for those being issued licence allowing use of drones for commercial purposes to get security clearance, may be from the State Police or the Union Home Ministry.”

He said resolutions of the radar systems across the country would have to be set in such a way that they are able to detect even drones. “There is huge security risk in allowing private use of drones in the absence of any effective surveillance system,” he added.

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