Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam 2024 Explained for DGCA Air Regulations

What the Act is and when it started

The Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024 is Act No. 16 of 2024. Parliament passed it as the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the President gave assent on 11 December 2024, and the Central Government brought it into force from 1 January 2025 (notification S.O. 5646(E) dated 31 December 2024).

Its long title says what it covers: the regulation and control of the design, manufacture, maintenance, possession, use, operation, sale, export and import of aircraft. Section 43 repeals the Aircraft Act, 1934.

For students, the most practical point is in Section 43(2): anything done under the old Act, including rules, notifications, orders, licences, certificates, approvals and exemptions, is treated as done under the corresponding provision of the new Act. Rules such as the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and the licences already issued carry on. What changed is the parent law they hang from.

Who and what it applies to (Section 1)

The Act extends to the whole of India and applies to four groups:

• Citizens of India, wherever they are.
• Aircraft registered in India, and the people on them, wherever they are.
• Aircraft registered outside India, and the people on them, while they are in or over India.
• Aircraft operated by a non-citizen whose principal place of business or permanent residence is in India.

Definitions examiners like (Section 2)

• Aerodrome: any definite or limited ground or water area intended for the landing, departure and surface movement of aircraft, including the buildings, sheds, vessels, piers and other structures on it.
• Aerodrome reference point (ARP): a designated point in the horizontal plane at or near the geometric centre of the part of the aerodrome used for take-off and landing. The 10 km and 20 km rules below are measured from it.
• Aircraft: any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from reactions of the air, other than reactions of the air against the earth's surface. That last part is why a hovercraft is not an aircraft.
• Maintenance: tasks needed to keep an aircraft, engine, propeller or part airworthy, including overhaul, inspection, replacement, defect rectification and embodying a modification or repair.
• Export means taking out of India; import means bringing into India; prescribed means prescribed by rules made under the Act.

The three bodies: DGCA, BCAS and AAIB (Sections 3 to 9)

The Act continues the three organisations that existed under the 1934 Act. Each is headed by its own Director General, appointed by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.

• DGCA (Section 3): safety oversight and regulatory functions. Under Section 4 the DG of Civil Aviation can issue binding directions on safety matters, for example to aerodrome operators, airlines, air traffic control and maintenance organisations.
• BCAS, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (Section 5): regulatory and oversight functions for civil aviation security. Its DG can issue security directions under Section 6.
• AAIB, the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau (Section 7): investigation of aircraft accidents and incidents.
• Section 8: the Central Government superintends all three and can direct them in the public interest.
• Section 9: the Central Government can review a DGCA or BCAS direction, on a representation from anyone or on its own, and order the DG to rescind or modify it.

Rule-making powers (Sections 10 to 14)

Most day-to-day aviation law lives in rules made under the Act rather than in the Act itself. Section 10 lets the Central Government make rules on design, manufacture, maintenance, possession, use, operation, sale, import and export of aircraft and on the safety of aircraft operations. The list in Section 10(2) includes several items that matter to pilots:

• Licensing of people who operate, maintain or repair aircraft, and of air traffic controllers.
• Conditions under which aircraft may fly or carry passengers, mail or goods, and the documents they must carry.
• Registration and marking of aircraft, and the issue and maintenance of log-books.
• How licences and certificates are issued and renewed, the examinations and tests for them, and their suspension, cancellation or surrender.
• Recognition of licences and certificates issued outside India.
• Air routes, entry into and exit from India, and prohibited or restricted flying over specified areas.
• Carriage of dangerous goods, safety equipment, aerodrome and air-route lighting, and signals.
• A ban on slaughtering and flaying animals and dumping rubbish within 10 km of the aerodrome reference point, because it attracts birds.
• Obstacle limitation surfaces around aerodromes and communication and navigation facilities.

Chicago Convention and the RTR licence (Section 11)

Section 11(1) lets the Central Government make rules to implement the Convention on International Civil Aviation signed at Chicago on 7 December 1944, including its Annexes (the ICAO standards and recommended practices).

Section 11(2) is the one RTR candidates should remember. Notwithstanding the Telecommunications Act, 2023, the Central Government (civil aviation) may make rules for issuing the Radio Telephone Operator (Restricted) Certificate and Licence to people who operate and maintain aircraft, in line with the International Telecommunication Convention. The Radio Telephone Operator (Restricted) Certificate and Licence Rules, 2025 have since been notified under this power, so check the current DGCA process when you plan your RTR(A).

Accidents, public health and emergencies (Sections 12 to 21)

• Section 12: rules for investigating accidents and incidents of any aircraft in or over India, and of Indian-registered aircraft anywhere. They can require notification, restrict access to wreckage, and suspend or cancel licences if an investigation shows it is needed.
• Sections 13 and 14: rules to stop infectious disease spreading by air. In an epidemic emergency, temporary rules can be made without prior publication, but they lapse after three months unless extended, and extensions cannot exceed three months in total.
• Section 15: in the interest of public safety or tranquillity, the Central Government can cancel or suspend licences, prohibit flights over any part of India, control aerodromes and Flying Training Organisations, or requisition aircraft. Knowingly disobeying such an order is punishable with up to three years' imprisonment, a fine, or both.
• Section 17: an authorised authority can detain an aircraft if the flight would be dangerous, or to secure compliance with the Act, rules or a court order.
• Section 18: for safety, buildings, structures and trees can be prohibited, limited in height, demolished or cut within a radius of up to 20 km of the aerodrome reference point.
• Section 19: a licence, certificate or approval can be suspended, cancelled or restricted for contravening the Act, rules or directions, but only by a written order after the holder has been given a hearing.
• Sections 20 and 21: the Central Government can exempt aircraft or persons, and delegate its powers (except rule-making) to the three Directors General.

Compensation (Sections 22 to 24)

If someone loses money because of a Section 18 direction (for example a building had to be cut down near an aerodrome), compensation is fixed by agreement or, failing that, by an arbitrator who is or has been qualified to be a High Court judge. An appeal against the award goes to the High Court within 30 days.

Offences and penalties (Sections 25 to 33)

Compounding (Section 30): offences that are not punishable with imprisonment only, or with imprisonment and fine, can be settled for up to ₹1 crore by the relevant Director General. A second similar offence within five years cannot be compounded.

Cognizance (Section 31): a court can act only on a complaint by, or with written sanction from, the DG of Civil Aviation, BCAS or AAIB, made within one year of the offence coming to their knowledge. No court below a Judicial Magistrate of the first class can try these offences.

Adjudication and appeals (Sections 32 and 33): designated officers, not below Deputy Secretary rank, can impose penalties of up to ₹1 crore for rule breaches after a hearing. Appeals go first to an officer one rank higher, then to a second appellate officer. Appeals against orders of the DG of Civil Aviation or DG of BCAS go to the Central Government, whose decision is final. Each appeal must be filed within 30 days, extendable by up to 30 more days.

• Dangerous goods, arms or explosives rules broken, or false information given about them (Section 25(1)): up to 2 years, or a fine up to ₹1 crore, or both.
• Slaughtering animals or dumping garbage within 10 km of the ARP (Section 25(2)): up to 3 years, or a fine up to ₹1 crore, or both. This offence is cognizable.
• Breaking other rules where the rule says so (Section 25(4)): up to 2 years, or up to ₹1 crore, or both.
• Wilfully flying so as to endanger any person or property on land, water or in the air (Section 26): up to 2 years, or up to ₹1 crore, or both.
• Wilfully ignoring a DGCA or BCAS direction (Section 27), or a Section 18 building/tree direction (Section 28): up to 2 years, or up to ₹1 crore, or both.
• Abetting or attempting an offence (Section 29): the same punishment as the offence.

Miscellaneous provisions (Sections 34 to 43)

• Rules must be published in draft first (Section 34), unless the government dispenses with this in the public interest, and laid before each House of Parliament for 30 days (Section 35).
• On conviction under Section 25(1) or for flying in a prohibited area, the court may order the aircraft or goods forfeited (Section 36).
• Aircraft on or over the sea are covered by the wreck and salvage rules of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (Section 37).
• No suit for trespass or nuisance just because an aircraft flew over property at a reasonable height (Section 39).
• The Act does not apply to aircraft of the Navy, Army or Air Force, except for the public health rules (Section 41).
• The government can remove difficulties in implementing the Act only within two years of commencement (Section 42).

Numbers to remember for the exam

• Act No. 16 of 2024; assent 11 December 2024; in force 1 January 2025; replaces the Aircraft Act, 1934.
• 10 km from the ARP: no slaughter of animals or dumping of garbage (up to 3 years and/or ₹1 crore, cognizable).
• 20 km from the ARP: maximum radius for building, structure and tree restrictions.
• ₹1 crore: the maximum fine, compounding amount and adjudicated penalty.
• 2 years: the usual maximum imprisonment; 3 years for the 10 km offence and for disobeying emergency orders.
• 3 months: life of emergency public-health rules (extendable by up to 3 months in total).
• 30 days: appeals (plus up to 30 days' extension), the High Court appeal on compensation, and the time rules lie before Parliament.
• 1 year: time limit for a DG's complaint; 5 years: repeat offences cannot be compounded.

How to study it

Read the Act once end to end; it is only 43 sections. Then focus on the definitions, the three bodies and their roles, the 10 km and 20 km rules, the penalty figures and the appeal route, because those turn into direct questions. Practise Air Regulations questions afterwards and note any question that still refers to the Aircraft Act, 1934: the same rule now sits under the new Act, and Section 43(2) keeps the old rules valid.

This article summarises the Act as passed and published in the Gazette of India. It is a study aid, not legal advice. For the exact wording and any later amendments or rules, use the official texts.

• Practise Air Regulations questions on CPLGrid
• DGCA official website
• Ministry of Civil Aviation