Earlier, Amazon had announced that they are developing drones for delivery of goods ordered via their E-Commerce portal. Drones are small aircraft systems, remotely controlled and is unmanned. While drones can save a lot of time and human effort for delivering shipments at doorsteps, the technology isn’t yet ready to deliver goods in an urban environment report by https://thewindowscentral.com/. There are a lot of security protocols and safety regulations to follow (most of which are undefined for civil drones) which make it impossible for e-commerce giants to use civil drones for delivering goods throughout the world.
Indian E-Commerce Portals May Start Drone Deliveries
However, the use of drones are permitted in film-making, where shooting is done using drones from a height of 200 to 400 feet. Last year the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) hasn’t yet issued any guidelines and standards for the use of drones for civil purposes. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had also restricted the civil use of drones in India by issuing a public notice.
Amazon Testing Drone Delivery System:
Few months back, a pizza outlet in Mumbai managed to gather lots of press coverage when it delivered a pizza using a drone at a high rise apartment which was 1.5 kms away from their location. The drone took around 10 minutes to deliver the package weighing around 500g. Let me remind you that it takes about 30 minutes for a pizza delivery boy to deliver the pizza at such a short distance in heavy Mumbai traffic.
Check out how drones are expected to work:
Indian E-Commerce Portals May Start Drone Deliveries By Next Year:
According to the latest developments, Aviation regulator, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has started the process of making guidelines for the civil use of drones. The guidelines are expected to be finalised in the next few months, and companies like Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart might be able to use drones for delivery, by next year.
“The DGCA has restricted the use of drones in India at present, but at the same time it has initiated the process of framing the guidelines for operations,” a civil aviation ministry official said.
Amazon’s delivery drones may start flight in India
In China, which has also taken drones seriously, domestic e-commerce giant Alibaba started trials of drones in February in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Right now, trials of light packets up to 340 grams, are done by Taobao, a marketplace for sellers owned by Alibaba.
If everything goes as per the plan, then India might become the first country in the world to allow the use of drones for civil purposes.