New Drone Rulings of India aimed at operational ease or a door to mass monitoring

New Drone Rulings of India aimed at operational ease or a door to mass monitoring

Drone Rules 2021 was introduced in India last week, and many restrictions were relaxed a few years ago. Government fees for drone licenses operating in the country have also been reduced and the safety clearance requirement has been excluded before any registration or permit has been received. The update will facilitate drone operations across the country and will benefit diverse sectors seeking to use unmanned aircraft to tackle emergencies, surveillance, geo-mapping, and enforcement actions. However, because the reporting of the abuses is not clearly defined, the new drone rules introduced privacy concerns. The rules also aim to greatly enhance the supervision of citizens.

Gadget's 360 podcast Orbital Akhil Arora this week discusses the scope of new drone rules and how they can influence our lives with the Associate Counsel of the Internet Freedom Foundation, Skye Air Mobility co-founder Swapnik Jakkampuddi, and Chief Technical Officer Shashank Srinivasan.

We are opening up reforms to the new drone rules with a view to easing the use of drones between companies and public authorities. The Civil Aviation Directorate (DGCA) approved last year's supply of fly-test drones to start companies such as Dunzo, Swiggy, and Zomato. Earlier this year, Dunzo started to provide pilot drones and COVID-19 vaccines in Telangana. All this will be much easier if the new rules are in place. Swiggy also began testing for drone food supplies.

The Skye air mobility company Jakkampuddi describes some of the major obstacles in early BLVOS trials by companies that should be removed from the new regulations. The new regulations will also be introduced by the company. The new rules will also facilitate the operation of new drone pilots.

Srinivasan of Wildlife Geospatial Data Advisory Technology notes, though, that the new drone rules do not clarify how people and farmers can start using their drones instead of selecting a third party. He also emphasizes that the rules do not address issues relating to drone transport within the national parks and the Tigers' reserves, which were an integral part of the previous regulations.

Jain also stresses several privacy concerns in the new drone rules of the Internet Freedom Foundation's NGO, the NGO (IFF). It also anticipates that regulations can extend the use of drones by individuals, companies, and authorities in the country. Concerns about privacy also exist because drones can easily be used to monitor others. During state lockups, which arose in COVID-19 cases earlier last year, drones have been used by police departments in different states to perform local surveillance to ensure that restrictions are complied with. But that also affected many people's privacy.