Annul order banning carriage of GPS devices in Aircraft in India
The Issue
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation has by its AvSec Order No. 02/2022 dated 04.03.2022 banned the carriage of Global Positioning System (GPS) devices which use signals from foreign satellites which do not have gateways in India in aircraft both in hand and checked in baggage and those apprehended doing so are liable to imprisonment upto two years and a penalty of upto Rs 1 crore. Contrary to rules this banning of GPS devices on aircrafts has not been publicised anywhere by the BCAS, the airport operators and aircraft operators and so air travellers are unaware of this order. Consequently, professionals who need to use GPS as an essential tool of their work like Geologists, Environmental Scientists, Cyclists, Trail Runners, Trekking Tour Operators and also amateur enthusiasts and tourists are being apprehended by airport security and being handed over to the police for carrying GPS devices into airports. This includes foreigners who are travelling to India. This is seriously impeding the work of these professionals and inconveniencing air travellers who are so apprehended as they have to confess in court to having committed the crime of carrying GPS devices into airports so as to be released. In the process by being prevented from flying at the time of their arrest and losing their devices to confiscation, unsuspecting air travellers are suffering substantial financial loss and mental harassment as is evident from this news article
This order is both absurd and illegal on the following grounds -
1. GPS devices do not work in closed places like within aircraft as they cannot pick up the satellite signals and so they cannot impede aircraft navigation. In fact the aircraft pilots themselves use a GPS whose antennae are fixed outside on its fuselage for aircraft navigation.
2. GPS devices cannot send or receive messages or calls unlike satellite phones and so they cannot pose a security threat.
3. The latest smartphones all have GPS facility in them and so logically if GPS devices are banned then smartphones should be banned also.
4. The Department of Telecommunications is the authority that decides which communication equipment is prohibited in this country as per the provisions of the Indian Telecommunications Act 2023, Indian Telegraphy Act 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933 and it has banned only satellite phones and has not banned GPS devices. Therefore, the BCAS has arbitrarily banned GPS devices in aircraft without proper authorisation.
5. Moreover, The Aircraft Act 1934 and Rules do not authorise the BCAS to pass this order banning GPS devices and so it is illegal of it to do so.
Not only are the rights of the air travellers in general being violated but also the right to carry out their work by professionals who use GPS devices as an essential tool. Moreover, by arresting foreigners with this absurd order India is also making a laughing stock of itself internationally. Thus, this illegal and absurd order is both violating human rights and impeding the development of this country and needs to be withdrawn. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, should immediately annul this order and also penalise the BCAS for having illegally issued it in the first place.
1,073
The Issue
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation has by its AvSec Order No. 02/2022 dated 04.03.2022 banned the carriage of Global Positioning System (GPS) devices which use signals from foreign satellites which do not have gateways in India in aircraft both in hand and checked in baggage and those apprehended doing so are liable to imprisonment upto two years and a penalty of upto Rs 1 crore. Contrary to rules this banning of GPS devices on aircrafts has not been publicised anywhere by the BCAS, the airport operators and aircraft operators and so air travellers are unaware of this order. Consequently, professionals who need to use GPS as an essential tool of their work like Geologists, Environmental Scientists, Cyclists, Trail Runners, Trekking Tour Operators and also amateur enthusiasts and tourists are being apprehended by airport security and being handed over to the police for carrying GPS devices into airports. This includes foreigners who are travelling to India. This is seriously impeding the work of these professionals and inconveniencing air travellers who are so apprehended as they have to confess in court to having committed the crime of carrying GPS devices into airports so as to be released. In the process by being prevented from flying at the time of their arrest and losing their devices to confiscation, unsuspecting air travellers are suffering substantial financial loss and mental harassment as is evident from this news article
This order is both absurd and illegal on the following grounds -
1. GPS devices do not work in closed places like within aircraft as they cannot pick up the satellite signals and so they cannot impede aircraft navigation. In fact the aircraft pilots themselves use a GPS whose antennae are fixed outside on its fuselage for aircraft navigation.
2. GPS devices cannot send or receive messages or calls unlike satellite phones and so they cannot pose a security threat.
3. The latest smartphones all have GPS facility in them and so logically if GPS devices are banned then smartphones should be banned also.
4. The Department of Telecommunications is the authority that decides which communication equipment is prohibited in this country as per the provisions of the Indian Telecommunications Act 2023, Indian Telegraphy Act 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933 and it has banned only satellite phones and has not banned GPS devices. Therefore, the BCAS has arbitrarily banned GPS devices in aircraft without proper authorisation.
5. Moreover, The Aircraft Act 1934 and Rules do not authorise the BCAS to pass this order banning GPS devices and so it is illegal of it to do so.
Not only are the rights of the air travellers in general being violated but also the right to carry out their work by professionals who use GPS devices as an essential tool. Moreover, by arresting foreigners with this absurd order India is also making a laughing stock of itself internationally. Thus, this illegal and absurd order is both violating human rights and impeding the development of this country and needs to be withdrawn. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, should immediately annul this order and also penalise the BCAS for having illegally issued it in the first place.
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Petition created on 3 January 2025