Framework to manage drone traffic notified

What is the News?

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has notified a Traffic Management Policy Framework for Drones.

Why is Traffic management for drones required?

The traffic management system for drones in India has become necessary as the number of drones being used in India is all set to increase after the latest liberalized drone regulations.

Hence, it has become important to safely manage the interplay between manned and unmanned aircraft, particularly at low-level airspace where the drones fly.

What are the key features of the Traffic Management Policy Framework for Drones?

Allows Public and Private Players: The framework allows both public and private third-party service providers to manage unmanned aerial vehicles in lower airspace.

Unmanned Traffic Management Service Providers(UTMSP): Under the framework, UTMSPs will be established to extend automated, algorithm-driven software services instead of voice communication as in the traditional Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems. They will primarily be responsible for segregating and separating a drone from other drones and manned aircraft in the airspace below 1,000 feet in the country.

Supplementary Service Providers(SSPs): The traffic management providers will be assisted by SSPs who will maintain data about the terrain, weather, location of manned aircraft and provide services such as insurance, data analytics and drone fleet management.

Integration of UTMSP and ATM: The policy also requires integration of UTM with ATM so that flight plans and real-time location of manned aircraft can be recorded as well in order to continuously separate manned and unmanned aircraft from each other.

Access to Law Enforcement Agencies: Law enforcement and security agencies will have access to some information in the UTM ecosystem on a need-to-know basis.

Service Fee: The policy allows UTMSPs to levy a service fee on users, a small portion of which will also be shared with the Airports Authority of India.

Source: This post is based on the article “Framework to manage drone traffic notified” published in The Hindu on 25th October 2021.