The new drone legislation is proposed to be introduced in 2022 by the Japanese government. The legislation will create an online drone registration system to fly commercial drones in populated areas of Japan. This will significantly reduce the paperwork which is currently needed. The drone registration system is designed to support the expansion of commercial drone operations such as online deliveries, and enable drone operators to be traced.
The registration will be an online portal based system and the drone permit will only be valid for a certain period of time. To register, an applicant would have to enter the name of the owner, the user, and the ID number assigned to the drone upon purchase. The government is also planning safety requirements and certification for drone operators. The country, presently, bans unmanned aerial vehicles from operating in heavily populated areas without a permit. This requires multiple documents to be filed with information including the make of the drone, the purpose, the date, the route, and other details.
A new approach to commercial drones
The commercial application of drones would increase automatically like tracing vehicles and owners in case of any accidents. Furthermore, it will also prevent a swarm of drones from filling the skies over houses.
The Japanese are also focusing to have an arrangement similar to other countries like the US, which registers about 300,000 drones which will triple by 2023. In addition to the online delivery market, Japanese drone operators are keen on expanding package deliveries. Test flights have been carried out to remote islands by the Seiyu supermarket chain and Rakuten, while Japan Post Holdings is looking at drone deliveries to mountainous regions.
The government will also draft rules setting safety standards for drones. For example, a drone must be able to descend without incident even during inclement weather.
