The Ministry of Economic Development criticized the draft government decree on the procedure for registering drones

The Ministry of Economic Development criticized the draft government resolution prepared by the Ministry of Transport “On approval of the procedure for registering civil unmanned aerial vehicles,” which regulates the procedure for accounting for drones with a take-off weight from 0.25 to 30 kg, Kommersant writes, citing the conclusion of the Ministry of Economic Development.

The department believes that a number of provisions of the draft contain excessive administrative restrictions and contribute to unreasonable expenses for entrepreneurs and the budget system.

The draft resolution on the registration of drones prepared by the Ministry of Transport was also criticized by industry associations, which sent corresponding letters to the regulatory impact assessment department of the Ministry of Economic Development. They note, in particular, that the draft resolution contains requirements for the use of an enhanced qualified electronic signature, registration of a drone within 10 days after purchase in the Russian Federation or importation into the country and the need for a registration identification mark for radio frequency identification. At the same time, the average cost of an electronic signature is from 3.5 thousand rubles with further annual maintenance from 900 rubles, the document does not define technical requirements for radio frequency identification, and the need for registration within 10 days does not take into account the interests of buyers and entrepreneurs.

According to the Aeronet association, about 2.5-3 thousand drones for commercial purposes and about 30 thousand aircraft models for sports are produced in Russia annually. In addition, about 50-70 thousand amateur drones are imported into the country per year. If the government-approved decree retains the obligation to register drones after importing them into Russia, then prices for drones will increase, since the cost will include a registration fee. According to Aeronet CEO Gleb Babintsev, the price increase could be 8-10%.

According to Aeronet, the registration procedure proposed by the Ministry of Transport turned out to be many times more complicated than the registration procedure for any vehicle in Russia.

“It is unacceptable to register drones in isolation from pilot training. Simply registration will give rise to an army of untrained pilots. The very first few incidents of these thoughtless hobbyists will provoke even stricter laws, which will finally kill aircraft modeling and the market,” Babintsev said.

Let us recall that on July 5 of this year in Russia, amendments to the Air Code adopted last summer came into force , according to which owners of drones weighing from 250 grams to 30 kilograms are required to register aircraft. At the same time, at that time, the government resolution approving the procedure for registering drones was not adopted, and the Ministry of Transport explained that until it came into force, drone owners did not have to worry about registration. In September, the department reported that it would be possible to begin recording drones no earlier than April 2018.