What's Brewing

On 31st July 2024, the Civil Aviation Minister introduced a Bill titled ‘Bharatiya Vayuvan Vidheyak’ in the Lok Sabha to replace the existing 90-year-old Aircraft Act, 1934 with a new Act to be called ‘Bharatiya Vayuvan Adhiniyam, 2024’. 

The Bill seeks to regulate, control of design, manufacture, maintenance, possession, use, operation, sale, export and import of aircraft and all other related matters.

A look at the highlights:

1.This Bill applies to: 

i) citizens of India wherever they may be 
ii) aircraft registered in India along with personnel aboard it, wherever both may be 
iii) aircraft registered outside India along with personnel aboard it, but for the time being in India or passing over Indian airspace 
iv) aircraft operated by a foreign national whose principal place of business or permanent residence is in India.

2. i) Definitions of key phrases including but not limited to ‘aerodrome’, ‘aircraft’, ‘manufacture’, ‘maintenance’, ‘tariff’, are expressly given. 
ii) ‘Aircraft’ definition is specified as “any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from reactions of the air, other than reactions of air against Earth’s surface”. 
iii) The word ‘Aircraft’ shall now include drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), air taxis, electronic gliders, etc. that operate in the open sky.

3. The following regulatory agencies constituted under Aircraft Act, 1934 shall be deemed to have been constituted under this Bill:
i) Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) –responsible for safety oversight and overall regulatory functions in all matters under this proposed Act, including sale, export, import, use, operation, etc.
ii) Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) – responsible for regulatory and oversight functions pertaining to all civil aviation security related matters.
iii) Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB) – will be responsible for carrying out all functions relating to aircraft accidents or incidents.

The Central Government of India shall be the ultimate authority that appoints the heads of all the above agencies, controls their functioning and has overriding and all-encompassing powers over these agencies.

4. i) The Bill expressly provides for ‘compensation’ to be provided to individual persons for loss or damage to their property consequent to notifications/orders issued by the ministry while providing civil aviation services to the public.
ii) Compensation can be determined either by prior agreement or, in absence of an agreement, by a qualified arbitrator duly appointed by central government.
iii) The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, shall not apply to arbitrations under this Act.
iv) Persons aggrieved by arbitrations under this Act can approach High Court for remedy.

5. i) The Bill expressly provides for activities construed as ‘offenses’ and ‘penalties’ applicable for these offenses.
ii) Non-compliance with any notification/rule/order of the civil aviation agencies; carrying non-permissible objects in aircraft or suppressing information about them; refusal to restrict the height of buildings, trees or other obstructions in the designated area to the stipulated limits; etc are among the activities construed as ‘offences’ under this Act.
iii) All offenses under this Act are ‘cognisable’, irrespective of the provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
iv) The Civil aviation agencies are empowered to ‘compound’ not all but certain offenses. Also, offenses repeated within a stipulated period of time cannot be ‘compounded’.
v) Offenses under this Act cannot be taken cognisance of by any court of law, except against specific complaint by the civil aviation agencies themselves or with their prior sanction. Such cases shall be tried by none less than a First-Class Magistrate.  
vi) Penalty not exceeding rupees one crore can be levied for offenses by officers appointed by the central government.
vii) Appeals against orders of penalty can be taken by the aggrieved with a two-stage Appellate.
viii) Provisions of Wreckage and Salvage under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 shall apply to this Act when aircraft owner suffers loss or damage when the aircraft is flying above sea.
ix) No person can file a petition in court for trespass or nuisance against any aircraft when it flies over his property under normal conditions of height, weather and other parameters.

6. This Act does not cover aircrafts belonging to the Indian defence forces. Air travel, all over the world including India, has undergone generational changes in terms of technology, economy and passenger needs. A legal framework covering all the relevant factors of present-day civil aviation has hence become an urgent necessity. The Vayuyan Bill 2024 seeks to achieve that objective.  

For full text of the Bill:
https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-bharatiya-vayuyan-vidheyak-2024
https://prsindia.org/files/bills_acts/bills_parliament/2024/Bharatiya_Vayuyan_Vidheyak_2024.pdf