Bangladesh cabinet tightens commercial drone use laws

Cabinet has passed the draft Drone Registration and Flying Act 2020, banning the use of drones for commercial purposes without permission from the government.

The use of drones for the shooting of films, television or documentaries will now require permission from the Civil Aviation Department if they weigh above 5kgs.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam announced the development after the cabinet meeting at secretariat on Monday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina virtually presided over the meeting, which was attended by several ministers and the cabinet secretary himself.

“The matter regarding drone operation has been heavily discussed recently, so the Civil Aviation ministry drafted a policy and cabinet gave the nod to the draft Drone Registration and Flying Act 2020 at the meeting,” said the cabinet secretary.

According to the policy, the government will categorize four types of drones. Drones below 5kg will be included in the first category and considered suitable for entertainment and for children, drones above 5kg used for non-commercial purposes will be listed in the second category, drones above 5kg used for commercial purposes will be listed in the third category, and state and military operated drones will be listed in the fourth category.   

“No permission will be needed to operate drones in the first and fourth category - toys and state-owned or military drones - but drones in the other two categories will require permission to operate,” Khandker Anwarul Islam said.

The cabinet secretary also said the Civil Aviation Department would give the permission, and sometimes drone operators would need additional permission from the authorities of key point installation (KPI) zones to fly over them.

He added that the country’s air space has been separated into green, yellow and red zones to control drone flying. Areas such as airports, cantonments and KPIs will be marked as red zones.