£16.50 for licence to own a drone in the UK

[FoxhallGH]

Any comment about whether or not existing PfCO holders have to register?

Oh yes ... This is outside of PfCO and applies to all Drone operators / pilots - recreational and commercial. Please read CAP 1775 ...
https://consultations.caa.co.uk/fin...oneregistrationchargeconsultationdocument.pdf

 

[FoxhallGH]

A shot gun licence is far more than £9 PA it's £79.50 and I can assure you as I also have a hobby shooting there is far more bureaucracy, media flack and hassle than flying a drone, but I feel the pain TWICE !

Initial application & issue for a shotgun is £79.50 for FIVE years - then renewal is £49.00 for FIVE years = That's £15.90 p.a. for the first 5 years, then £9.80 per year to keep your license. My statement came from the p.a. cost difference between registering a drone and a shotgun ... (Figures come from the Essex Police website). It will be more expensive to register a drone than a shotgun is a fact!

 

[Hiwayman]

Oh yes ... This is outside of PfCO and applies to all Drone operators / pilots - recreational and commercial.

But aren't we already registered?

 

[FoxhallGH]

It states "owners"
.
What if you borrow a aircraft are you still subject to the "Owner Tax"?
.
It's a shady tax because every UK
" Drone" owner
must be a tad bit shady to be
In this hobby.?
.
We have it too here in the USA
.
And it goes by another name FAA registration and yes it will go up.!

My next drone will probably be purchase by the dog
The dog only deals in cash.
.....and only
buys second hand .
and yes she is a bit shady

I won't own it but probably borrow it from time to time
.
.

The way they are proposing this work, is that the 'Owner/Operator' pays the tax, but if you want to fly the drone, you need to have a registration as a 'UAV Pilot' ... That involves passing an on-line test that will issue you with a registration number, but has no associated fee. It also needs renewal every 3 years to remain current.

 

[FoxhallGH]

But aren't we already registered?

Of course - but you think this is fair??? Check out the CAP 1775 doc (link added to post #41 above)

 

[zocalo]

It states "owners"
.
What if you borrow a aircraft are you still subject to the "Owner Tax"?

I get the impression that intention here is that the pilot is *always* responsible for the actual flight, but the owner/operator is responsible for the drone itself and ensuring that any pilots of the drone are registered. It's also aimed quite specifically at UK residents and gets very complicated if you try and fit overseas visitors into the model, so I suspect there will be a different scheme there that hasn't been announced yet.

Basically, the proposal (and remember that's all it is, so may change) appears to break down like this:

• Own one or more drones: Pay £16.50 and register yourself and your drone(s), and you get serial numbers to display on each of your drones, just like the FAA scheme.
• Fly one or more drones, but don't own one yourself: Just register, pass the online test, and you get a pilot registration number. No fee required.
• Own *and* fly one or more drones: Pay £16.50 to register your drone(s), register yourself and pass the test, and you get as many aircraft serial numbers as needed, plus your pilot number.

 

[Herbie D]

Who is going to police this? How will it affect visitors to the UK (I live in Iceland but my kids are in the UK)? When I visit the UK and want to fly my drone who is going to check I have a licence and have paid a registration fee? What about all the drone users who do not register and still fly? The chances of getting caught are pretty slim are they not? I always fly my drone within the law here in Iceland and have only made one error and that was flying too near to birds on cliffs in March! (No flying near nesting sites! Yes but it was March! They start nesting in April/May!). This registration will not stop rogue drone flyers.

I’ve just been to the uk and flown where I could. Beautiful places and as I had to pay to get there (look it up, really expensive when you come from the bottom of the world) another £16 isn’t an issue. As everyone here, I flew according to the rules but I agree there was really no enforcement. I say wait to see what actually happens as crystal ball gazing will just get us wound up in knots.
Still no registration in NZ but I guess it will come as well.

 

[Hiwayman]

Of course - but you think this is fair??? Check out the CAP 1775 doc (link added to post #41 above)

Thank you...and thank you for the link ?

 

[adam3112]

No matter what side of politics you're on, I think we can all agree this country has absolutely lost the plot.

 

[Congoblue]

I have submitted my response to CAA. I wonder if they will actually read them or if it is just so they can say "we held a public consultation".

 

[Lastrexking]

Here's a link to the consultation Charge proposal for the UK Drone Registration Scheme - Civil Aviation Authority - Citizen Space

 

[Lastrexking]

I'm not happy about this charge. While it's not a huge amount of money, when you look at other Government schemes we in the drone community are being ripped off.

Here's my reply to the CAA:

The charge is too high, especially when compared to other countries. The US for example, only charge $5. Why are we to pay three times more, how is it justified?

How is the cost justified when other UK licence and registration schemes are much cheaper? Let's look at other government charging schemes;

Hazardous Waste registration (Environment Agency) - this used to be £5 per year
UK Passport £85 for ten years - £8.50 a year
Rod Licence - £30 a year, considerably more, but the money is used to improve and police rivers. What improvements to the environment will the drone registration fee go towards?
Driving Licence - £34 - last for ten years - £3.50 a year

Lastly, why do drones need to be registered? I've yet to see why this action is justified? Where are the incidents of death or serious injury that mean this needs to happen?
Between 2010 and 2015 there were 20 people killed by dogs in England and Wales, yet there is no scheme or plan to reintroduce dog licences.

It seems to me that the CAA want to make flying drones too expensive for hobbyists so they can clear the air space for large companies.

So, that's my rant to the CAA. I should add - I'm a civil servant. I used to work at the Environment Agency and I know how much it costs to set up these systems. It's not as much as we're being charged. The EA for example used to use an Access Database to Hazardous Waste registrations. They were charged at £5 a year.... This is wrong.

 

[Scubadiver1944]

The party sounds a great idea!

Taxes go down if you happen to be a billionaire!

Remember the words of the late billionaire "The Queen of Mean" Leona Helmsley? "We don't pay taxes! Only the little people pay taxes." Never a truer word spoken!

 

[dslater]

So how will notice of this be spread? If I were to not watch the news or read a paper how would I be expected to know this was a requirement?

 

[Aikidoamigo]

CAA consulation

From the BBC:

“Every drone and model aircraft owner in the UK could be charged £16.50 a year under plans by the aviation regulator.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is consulting on introducing a licence fee to cover the costs of operating the new drone registration scheme.
From November, drone owners would have to register their details on a database and drone flyers would complete a free online safety test.”

It should be higher.... the higher it is chances are the more idiots it will deter, there would be a direct correlation.

 

[¬Nomad]

The CAA Fee for registering an aircraft having a maximum weight not exceeding 15,000kg is a one time payment of £73.00
the CAA maintains a database online for all registered Aircraft
Considering most light aircraft have a lifetime measured in tens of years, it probably works out something like £4 or less a year

In light of this and even considering the economies of scale and initial setup costs, then yes the proposed fee for Drone registration is ludicrous

 

[oldcelt]

@FoxhallGH
Great scheme, but how long do you think that the CAA would allow that to exist?

 

[4wd]

It's far too much when all you are getting is being put on a list of potential suspects if there's an incident.
If the annual fee included third party insurance it would be more reasonable.

I suspect the great majority who only fly the thing a handful of time a year due to work and weather just won't bother. The chances of being apprehended for your heinous crime will be vanishingly small if you are flying in the allowed places away from people - where it won't be seen anyway most likely.

 

[FoxhallGH]

@FoxhallGH
Great scheme, but how long do you think that the CAA would allow that to exist?

I know - but strangely enough, that same 'Operator' / 'Remote Pilot' scheme is being tabled by the BMFA right now! Their argument is that BMFA members already pay a membership fee, hold 3rd party insurance, and publish codes of conduct etc. that make registration redundant for their RC model members. They will be the first to propose that they [the BMFA] become the 'Operator' for all of their members' aircraft ... Meaning that they will pay one £16.50 fee to CAA, and ask their membership to complete the on-line remote pilot test.
Hopefully, when CAA become aware of that, they will see how stupid the fee is ... If they were proposing something like £5 p.a., then nobody would worry about it ... But you are right - it's a loop-hole that is bound to be plugged somehow!

 

[zocalo]

@FoxhallGH
Great scheme, but how long do you think that the CAA would allow that to exist?

Or even get off the ground for that matter, since they could still close the loophole with a tweak to the wording of the registation scheme before making it final. One way of doing that might be to add a liability clause in there; e.g. if you are the operator of a drone involved in an incident, then you could be held partly responsible for the actions of a pilot that you have supposedly ensured is competent to fly. I can't see the BMFA, or any other group, wanting to take on responsibility for *all* their pilots without bulletproof liability cover, and that could quite easily cost more than the proposed £16.50 fee per member.

Frankly, I'm expecting a rethink, and not just on the fee structure. While the fees are a major issue, the reaction in general seems quite negative. They also have no idea who most pilots are and need them to volunteer their information, and the chances of getting caught without registering seem awfully low; Gatwick and all the other incidents (real or not) are evidence of that. Not a good combination for broad uptake, is it? Sweeten the pot and make it worthwhile to register and they might get somewhere, but I suspect they've just made that task a lot harder to achieve.