Mandatory online drone registration system takes flight to help keep track of unmanned aircraft

Distributors and importers of drones must now register them online.

The “My Drone” registration site will be hosted on the Emirates Standards and Meteorology Authority website and will register drones with the Ministry of Interior, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, General Civil Aviation Authority and the standards authority.

“Instead of making clients move between all these departments, we did it under one electronic platform,” said Abdulla Al Maeeni, director general of the standards authority.

The registration will ensure each drone entering and being sold in the UAE carries a serial number that links it to its maker, distributor and owner.

Each will be issued a certificate to show that it meets national standards and can be legally sold in the country. Anyone who owns and operates a drone will be required to show the certificate to officials if asked.

The certificate will be available online.

“A drone that enters the UAE will be given a unique serial number that is issued from the system and then once it’s sold to the individual, this serial number will be allocated to that person,” said Issa Al Hashemi, director of the standards authority’s conformity affairs department.

“In case there are problems or misuse or anything, we can trace the full cycle from the manufacturer to the individual.

Consumers who want to sell or give away their registered drones will have to apply through My Drone to transfer ownership to the buyer, so that their personal details will no longer be associated with it.

The measures contribute to supporting the national economy and avoiding any negative consequences resulting from the expansion of the use of unmanned aircraft, said Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the civil aviation authority.

“The UAE regulation is the first of its kind in the world and will help anyone who wishes to develop a system of auditing these products,” he said.

Owners of unregistered drones can comply with the new regulations by registering at etrans.esma.gov.ae/english.

Anyone caught using unregistered drones faces a fine or even jail time.

A fine or even a jail sentence awaits those caught using unregistered drones