Draft drone rules propose to make it easy to operate the aerial vehicles

The new rules, the ministry said, have been built on a premise of trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring

The government has proposed to further simplify rules for drone operators, reducing the number of permissions and security clearances required to operate the aerial vehicles.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday released the Draft Drone Rules 2021, open for public consultation until August 5. The rules will replace the Un­man­ned Aircraft System Rules, 2021, which came into effect in March. The requirement was felt after the industry said that the existing guidelines were tough to follow for drone companies, many of which are start-ups.

Multiple changes have been proposed. For instance, the number of forms to be filled to