Central Government has undertaken a series of reform measures to promote India’s upcoming drone industry

The Government is utilising services of Drone service providers for vaccine delivery, inspection of oil pipelines and power transmission lines, anti-locust operations, agricultural spraying, survey of mines, land mapping under SWAMITVA scheme for issuance of digital property cards, etc. Drone Training Schools have also been set up in various States which have the potential of being a game changer in the promotion and development of drone applications.

Telecom Tariff (69th Amendment) Order, 2022

Considering the significance of alerts/messages sent as per direction issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Authority has decided that no charges shall be levied for such SMS/Cell Broadcast – Alerts/messages sent either during the disaster or prior to notification of disaster or after the expiry of disaster.

DoT Issues Clarifications on Removal of Export Requirements and Extension in Timelines for IMEIs of Locally Manufactured Phones

The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has examined the requests of various industry associations and has conceded that the requirement of registration of IMEIs of mobile phones being manufactured in India for export is kept in abeyance till further orders. However it has stated that rule 4 (1) of the Prevention of Tampering of the Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number (Amendment) Rules, 2022 shall come into force with effect from January 1, 2023.

Guidelines for Platform Services offered by Multi-System Operators

These guidelines have been issued to ensure that the network capacity of Cable Operators is utilized primarily for the same. Further, these guidelines mandate the adherence to Programme Code and Advertisement Code with respect to content on PS channels and help in combating the menace of Piracy.