Obtaining Drone Permission in Nepal

Introduction

Drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is an aircraft without human pilot which can be controlled either autonomously by onboard computers or by the remote control of a pilot on the ground. As Nepal is one of the himalayan countries, initially drone was used to carry important raw materials where transportation was not facilitate. With the use of drone, Civil Aviation Authority for Nepal (CAAN) was established in 2053 which brought laws to use it in the country. Now, drone is used in military services, rescue operations and for recreational purposes like taking personal photos, and videos. In Nepal, we can use drone inside our home and in our personal garden. However, we need special permission from CAAN to use it, other than our personal properties.

Contact

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal

Babarmahal, Kathmandu

Tel. 4262387, 4262326, 4262518

Fax: 977-1-4262516

E-mail: dgca@caanepal.org.np

Web: www.caanepal.org.np

Documents to be submitted

1. A filled form

2. Request letter This request letter should be written to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal asking for permission to use.

3. A copy of Operation Specifications of Drone.

4. A copy of map of operation area.

5. Copy that shows latlong (latitude/Longitude) box of operation area.

6. No Objection/ Recommendation letter of concerned owner/Unit if operation area is over private/ Public place or property.

If the operation area is on public property like roads, temples, etc you need to have a no objection letter from Road's Department and other such departments.

7. Letter from the concerned authority for security clearance or other clearance. This security clearance is taken from the operation areas' Police Headquarters

Cost/Time

Cost: You do not need to pay money to get permission to fly drone.

Time Taken: After your all required documents are submitted and are simultaneously accepted by CAAN, you can get the permission from CAAN to fly drone within 3 days.

Process

1. First of all, you should take permission letter from the Municipality of the places that you want to fly drone

2. Second, you need to take recommendation letter from the CDO office. The CDO office will give recommendation letter only after getting the permission letter from the municipality.

3. After showing these two letters to Police Headquarters, the police head quarters of the places that you want to fly your drone will give you security clearance letter to you or even provide security to the areas that you want to fly your drone, if necessary.

4. Then with security clearance letter and all the documents listed above, you should submit the documents to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal in Drone operation permission department.

Additional Information

Note: Like other government offices of Nepal, CAAN is open from 10 am - 4pm on working days and on Friday from 10 am to 3 pm.

There are limited laws to use drone in Nepal, some of them are listed below:

1. You do not need permission to use drone from CAAN, if the drone is under 2 kg and you are using it under 200m on your personal properties like inside your house, land, and garden.

2. The aircraft must be kept within the visual line of sight (normally taken to be within 500 m horizontally and 400 ft vertically) of its remote pilot (i.e. the „person in charge‟ of it). Operations beyond these distances must be approved by the CAAN (the basic premise being for the operator to prove that he/she can do this safely).

3. Unmanned aircraft shall be permitted to be operated in day VMC conditions only.

4. CAAN permission is required for all flights that are being conducted for aerial work subject to the approval of concerned Authority having jurisdiction over such aerial work.

5. If the operations are to be conducted in a Restricted or Prohibited area, prior approval from the concerned Authority is required before applying for CAAN permission.

6. Airport areas including take-off and approach paths shall be free of all UAV activity at all times regardless of altitude.

7. To use drone in Nepal, you cannot get permission for longer period of time like for a year but can get for short period of time.

For more details you can see this link. [1]