REVIEWING THE AIRCRAFT AMENDMENT BILL,2020

On February 4 2020 the Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Hardeep Singh Puri. The bill aims at amending the Aircraft Act, 1934.

Aircraft Act, 1934
The Aircraft Act, 1934 came into effect for providing better provisions for the control of the manufacture, possession, use, operation, sale, import, and export of aircraft.
After the Act’s enaction the act had been extended to the new provinces and merged states as per the guidelines of the Merged States (LAWS), Act 1949 (59 of 349), S.3 (1-1-1950) and to the Union territories of Manipur, Tripura and Vindhya Pradesh by the Union Territories (Laws) Act, 1950 (30 of 1950), S.3 (16-4-1950). Vindhya Pradesh now forms part of M.P. State Act 37 of 1956, S.9(1) (e) (1-1-1956), Manipur and Tripura are new States; See Act 81 of 1971, S.3(21-1-1972).
Aircraft Amendment Bill, 2020
After the Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri proposed the bill on February 4 the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 17, was also passed by the Rajya Sabha by the means of a voice vote.

Provisions of the Bill:

The Bill amends the Aircraft Act,1934 the bill regulates the manufacture, possession, use, operation, sale, import, and export of civil aircraft and licensing of aerodromes.
The Bill will provide statuary power to the regulatory institutions of Civil Aviation like the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

The Civil Aviation Minister quoted “the amendment was necessary for light of the recent growth of the civil aviation sector,
DGCA: The bill entitles the DGCA to act as a watchdog. The DGCA will foresee the regulatory functions as mentioned in the bill for the growth of the civil aviation sector. The DGCA can levy up to Rs 1crore as a penalty on airlines, airports, and other key aviation entities.
BCAS: The BCAS will be carrying out regulatory and oversight functions on civil aviation security.
AAIB: To carry out investigation related to aircraft accidents and incidents.
Reasons behind the Amendment
The statuary power that the Bill provides to the civil aviation institutions is likely to help the civil aviation sector to improve India’s safety aviation rankings as recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The bill intends to increase the fine amount for any violation of rules from RS 10 lakh to Rs 1 Crore for aviation sector stakeholders.
Under the Bill, the central government may cancel the licenses, certificates, or approvals granted to a person under the Act if the person contravenes any provision of the Act.

Exemptions
The aircrafts belonging to the navy, military, and air force of the Republic of India will be exempted from the bill
The extension of the exemption will also be extended to the other armed forces other than these three.
Challenges

The Disinvestment by the government from Air India has resulted in the firm incurring heavy losses (26 crores per day) the pandemic is expected to further increase the number of losses
According to recent data, there has been a rise in the number of near-miss incidents in the airspace, near miss is a close call that has the potential to cause great injury to humans or the environment but does not occur,
The aviation sector faces shortages of Air Traffic Controllers (ATC)
Because of the COVID- 19 pandemics there has been an increase in the drop in demand which has compelled the airlines and its stakeholders to face financial crisis.