DroneScoutDrone rules in India
Last reviewed: 2026-10-06
What is Remote ID? How the technology works: the standards, what a broadcast contains, and Bluetooth vs Wi-Fi transmission.
India regulates civil drones under the Drone Rules, 2021, notified by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 25 August 2021 and administered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Almost everything runs through one online portal, Digital Sky: registration, pilot certificates and the airspace map.
Drone categories
The rules sort drones by maximum all-up weight, including payload:
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Nano | up to 250 g |
| Micro | 250 g – 2 kg |
| Small | 2 kg – 25 kg |
| Medium | 25 kg – 150 kg |
| Large | over 150 kg |
Registration and pilots
- Drones are registered on Digital Sky and get a Unique Identification Number (UIN), which is marked on the drone. Nano drones are treated more lightly.
- Flying anything heavier than a nano drone needs a Remote Pilot Certificate from a DGCA-authorised training organisation. Micro drones flown for non-commercial purposes are exempt.
- The Digital Sky airspace map splits India into green zones (no permission needed up to 400 ft), yellow zones (permission from air traffic control) and red zones (permission from the central government only).
Remote ID: not mandatory yet
India has no broadcast Remote ID requirement in force. The UIN is a registration number painted on the drone, not a radio signal, so nothing nearby can read it.
The Drone Rules 2021 do leave room for it: the government may notify safety features such as a real-time tracking beacon that sends the drone's location, altitude, speed and unique identification number, with at least six months' notice before compliance. That notification has not been issued.
In September 2025 the ministry published the draft Civil Drone (Promotion and Regulation) Bill, 2025 for public consultation. It would replace the Drone Rules with a law of its own, keeping registration, the UIN and the Remote Pilot Certificate, and adding traceability requirements. It is not law yet.
How to see it
DroneScout reads the open Remote ID standards ASTM F3411 and ASD-STAN EN 4709-002. A drone in India that broadcasts Remote ID anyway — for example one fitted with an add-on Remote ID module — shows up on DroneScout's map today. If India adopts one of these standards, DroneScout will see Indian drones without an update.