You can now register your drones online - get your flight plan ready

Under these norms, users can register their drones, the pilots and owner (s), and will be in effect from December 1.

On Saturday, the Civil Aviation Ministry announced that it has started the registration process for drone operators in the country that will be done through a portal called 'Digital Sky'.

In August, the government decided to put regulations in place for operations of remotely piloted aircraft to come into effect from December 1. Under these norms, drone users will be required to do a one-time registration of their drones, the pilots of drones and their owners.

"Happy to announce that we are launching the Online Registration Portal for #Drone Flying Permission, #DigitalSky from TODAY. The platform is now live," Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said in a tweet.

https://twitter.com/sureshpprabhu/status/1068799966167146496

For drones of micro size and above categories, operators are required to register on the Digital Sky portal and nano drones can start flying legally from Saturday.

In a statement, the ministry announced that the digital platform has begun accepting registrations of users, and payments for Unmanned Aerial Operator's Permit (UAOP) and Unique Identification Numbers (UIN) will be accepted through the Bharat Kosh portal.

To get the permission to fly, RPAS (remotely piloted aerial system) or drone operators or remote pilots will have to file a flight plan.

"Flying in the 'green zones' will require the only intimation of the time and location of the flights via the portal or the app. Permissions will be required for flying in 'yellow zones' and flights will not be allowed in the 'red zones'," the ministry said.

The location of these zones will be announced soon. Permission will be made available digitally on the portal, it added. To prevent unauthorised flights and ensure public safety, any drone without a digital permit will not be able to take off.

"Drones are an industry of the future. India will be taking lead in this sector and will be working with countries around the world to develop common, scalable standards. This industry has a large potential for Make in India and also to export drones and services from India," Prabhu was quoted as saying in the release.

The ministry has constituted a task-force on the recommendation of Drone Policy 2.0 under junior minister Jayant Sinha.

The task-force is expected to release its final report by the end of this year. Drone 2.0 framework for RPAS is expected to include regulatory architecture for autonomous flying, delivery via drones and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights, the ministry said in the release.