Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to replace the Aircraft Act, 1934 and provides for manufacture and maintenance in the aviation sector, remove redundancies and ease of doing business.
The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, was passed after a reply to a discussion by Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu. Lok Sabha has already passed the bill. The minister answered members’ queries on various issues, including a rise in air ticket prices.
Naidu said in a post on X that it is transformative legislation that redefines India’s aviation sector, “Today marks a historic milestone as the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, has been passed by the Rajya Sabha, paving the way for its adoption as an Act. This transformative legislation redefines India’s aviation sector by replacing the Aircraft Act, 1934, with modern provisions tailored to global standards,” he said in a post on X.
“This Act will strengthen our regulatory framework, promote ease of doing business, and enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities in aviation. It also aligns India with international conventions, ensuring our aviation standards are at par with the global best. This is a proud moment for every Indian, and I assure you, the skies ahead are brighter than ever,” he added.
Naidu said in his reply that the civil aviation sector is instrumental in the growth of several other sectors. “If you look at the true sense of why we want to promote aviation, why we want to make it one of the best sectors in the country, in the whole world, because when we talk about aviation, we talk about tourism, when we talk about aviation we talk about economic activity, when we talk about aviation we talk about real estate growth, we talk about job creation. When we talk about aviation, we talk about industry…that is why aviation is a very important nodal sector that needs to be given that push,” he said.
He said the number of airports and passenger traffic has increased after the UDAAN scheme. “We have operationalised 86 airports, and we can proudly say that Udaan has been a real success story for Indian aviation,” he said.
The minister said that fuel price is a factor in airfares and states can reduce VAT. He said a mechanism to deal with any steep hike in fares is also being improved. According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, the Aircraft Act of 1934 has been amended several times to enhance safety and oversight to meet requirements for sustainable growth of the aviation sector and to give effect to the provisions of international conventions.
“As a result of numerous amendments over a period of ninety years, a need is felt to address the ambiguities and confusion experienced by the stakeholders, to remove redundancies, to enable ease of doing business and to provide for manufacture and maintenance in the aviation sector and to re-enact the aforesaid Act in the form of a Bill, namely, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024,” the statement said.
The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, seeks to provide for the design, manufacture, and maintenance of aircraft and related equipment, empower the Central Government to regulate the issuance of Radio Telephone Operator (Restricted) Certificates and licences to facilitate business, and make rules to implement the Convention relating to international civil aviation and other matters relating to civil aviation security.
It also seeks to empower the Central Government to issue orders in emergency in the interest of public safety or tranquillity, provide for payment of compensation for loss or damage in such manner as provided under the Act and provide for appeal against the matters relating to compensation, licence, certificate or approval and adjudication of penalties. The bill provides imprisonment, fines or penalties for contravention of the provisions of the Act or the rules besides removing ambiguities and redundancies. It provides for repealing the Aircraft Act of 1934 and regulatory provisions for the effective implementation of the proposed legislation.
