HQ: New Delhi

Regional Offices: 5
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai & Bengaluru
It is the overall regulatory and developmental
body for civil aviation in the country.
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) governs the
safety aspects of civil aviation in India.

With the revision to Section 4A of the Aircraft Act, 1934 in

September 2020, the DGCA has been formally recognized
as a body constituted by the Central Government with the
responsibility to carry out safety oversight and regulatory
functions in respect of matters specified in the Act or the
rules made thereunder.

The administration of the DGCA vests with the Director

General. [Present DG – Shri. Vikram Dev Dutt]
 ICAO IATA

Regulator Regulator
[DGCA] [BCAS]

Airlines
Director General’s office is the Focal Point of contact for
receiving State correspondence of ICAO and responding.

DGCA is generally required to ensure that new or changed

legislation drafted is consistent with the relevant ICAO
Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) contained in
the Annexes to the Chicago Convention.

If India is not fully compliant, a difference is required to be

notified to ICAO. Further, Significant differences are required to
be published in the AIP. ICAO will publish the difference in
Suplements to the Annexes.
Eg., 1.Submission of FPL during flight not permitted.
2. Towing of Aircraft is not permitted.
3. India, in case of international operations with more than
one pilot, allows only either of the pilots to be above the age of
60 years and upto the age of 65 years.
DGCA Functions:

1. Registration of civil aircraft;

2. Certification of aerodromes;
3. Formulation of standards of airworthiness for civil
aircraft registered in India and grant of certificates of
airworthiness to such aircraft;
4. Licensing of pilots, AME’s, ATC controllers, flight
engineers and flight dispatchers (approval) and
conducting examinations and checks for that purpose;
5. Maintaining a check on the proficiency of flight crew,
and also of other operational personnel such as flight
dispatchers and cabin crew;
6. Granting of Air Operator’s Permit / Certificates to
Indian carriers
7. Carrying out amendments to the Aircraft Act, the
Aircraft Rules and the CAR for complying with the
amendments to ICAO Annexes, and initiating
proposals for amendment to any other Act.
8. Coordination of ICAO matters with all agencies and
sending replies to State Letters, and taking all
necessary action arising out of the Universal Safety
Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) of ICAO;
9. Safety Oversight of all entities approved/ certified/
licensed under the Aircraft Rules 1937
DGCA Requirement and Guidance

1) CAR [CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS]

2) AIC [AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION CIRCULARS]
3) Circulars
 General
 ATCO Licensing
 Aerodromes
 Air Navigation Services
 Air Safety
 Air Transport
 Airworthiness
 Cabin Safety
4) Manuals and procedures
5) Public notice
AC T S a n d R U L ES

The Aircraft Act 1934

The Aircraft Rules 1937
The Aircraft (Demolition of Obstruction caused by
Buildings and Trees etc.) Rules, 1994
The Aircraft (Carriage of Dangerous Goods) Rules, 2003
The Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2011
The Aircraft (Investigation of Accident and Incidents)
Rules, 2017
The Drone Rules, 2021
Why CAR is issued when we already have Aircraft
Rules 1937?

While the broad principles of law are contained in the

Aircraft Rules, 1937, Civil Aviation Requirements are
issued to specify - the detailed requirements and
compliance procedures so as to

a) fulfil the duties and obligations of India as a Contracting

State under the convention relating to International Civil
Aviation signed at Chicago on the 7th day of December,
1944.

b) standardize and harmonize the requirements taking into

account the rules and regulations of other regulatory
authorities.
c) implement the recommendations of the Courts of Inquiry or
any other committee constituted by the Central Government/
Director General.

d) To address any other issues related to safety of aircraft

operations as may be considered necessary by the Director
General.

Who can issue CAR?

In accordance with rule 133A of the Aircraft Rules 1937, the
Director General may issue, interalia, Civil Aviation
Requirements not inconsistent with the Aircraft Act, 1934 and
the rules made thereunder.
 What is CAR?

Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) are special directions

issued by the Director-General not inconsistent with the
Aircraft Act, 1934 (22 of 1934) or rules made thereunder
relating to operation, use, possession, maintenance or
navigation of aircraft flying in or over India or of aircraft
registered in India.

Procedure for issue and revision of CAR and their

dissemination to various organizations

The Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) are promulgated

under the following sections:-
 Section 1 – General
 Section 2 – Airworthiness
 Section 3 – Air Transport
 Section 4 – Aerodrome Standards and Licensing
 Section 5 – Air Safety
 Section 6 – Design standards and Type Certification
 Section 7 – Flight Crew Standards, Training and Licensing
 Section 8 – Aircraft Operations
 Section 9 – Air Space and Air Traffic Management
 Section 10 – Aviation Environment Protection
 Section 11 – Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods (DG) by
Air

Detailed list in slide 23

The ICAO Annexes
ICAO SARPS (Standards and Recommended Practices) for
each area of ICAO responsibility are contained in 19
Annexes. Each Annex deals with a particular subject area.
The Annexes are:
Annex 1 - Personnel Licensing
Annex 2* - Rules of the Air
Annex 3 - Meteorological Services
Annex 4 - Aeronautical Charts
Annex 5* - Units of Measurement
Annex 6 - Operation of Aircraft
Annex 7* - Aircraft Nationality and Registration Marks
Annex 8* - Airworthiness of Aircraft
Annex 9 - Facilitation
Annex 10 - Aeronautical Telecommunications
Annex 11 - Air Traffic Services
Annex 12 - Search and Rescue
Annex 13 - Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation
Annex 14 - Aerodromes
Annex 15 - Aeronautical Information Services
Annex 16 - Environmental Protection
Annex 17 - Security
Annex 18 - The Safe Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Air
Annex 19 - Safety Management

Contracting States are required to give notification of

differences to standards, and invited to notify differences from
Recommended Practices in Annexes. This information is then
listed in Supplements to the Annexes.
Procedure for promulgation of CAR

1) Civil Aviation Requirements under various sections are

issued bearing different “series” identified by alphabetical
letters, namely Series A, B, C etc. and under the same
Series, various ”Parts” are issued, such as Part I, II, III, etc.

Section Series Part

2) Every existing and new CAR shall have an office file

maintained by the concerned directorate and the file
number shall be indicated at the top right hand corner of
the CAR. Any amendment in future shall be processed on
the same file. Pic below:
3) The first page of the CAR shall indicate the Section,
Series, Part and date of issue along with the date of
applicability. Subsequent pages shall indicate the date of
issue only.
4) Whenever a change/revision is affected to a CAR, it
shall be termed as “revision” and the revision number
along with date of revision and effective date of revised
CAR shall be indicated on the first page of the CAR and
also on the concerned pages.
 Consequently, the revision number and date of
revision shall be reflected only on such pages, which are
affected by the revision.
Pages not been affected by any revision, shall
contain initial date of issue/revision only.

5) Every revision shall be accompanied by a “Revision

Notice”, which shall indicate the pages affected and the
justification for the revision. The Revision Notice shall be
filed along with the revision CAR in the folder.

6) Whenever there is a major change/ revision, the Revision

Notice shall indicate that the CAR has undergone a major
revision and is issued in the form of new edition.
 All revisions to the CAR shall be indicated by a
sideline on the left side of the affected pages
indicating the change/ revision to the CAR. Pic
below:
7) Whenever a new CAR or revision to the existing CAR is
proposed to be issued, the draft of the proposed
CAR/revision shall be posted on DGCA website or
circulated to all the persons likely to be affected thereby
for their objections/ suggestions.

The objections/ suggestions received within the

stipulated period of 30 days or less as may be determined
by Director General shall be analysed and if found
acceptable shall be incorporated in the proposed CAR
before promulgation.

DGCA may also arrange meetings with the Civil

Aviation industry for discussions on the draft CAR before
finalisation/promulgation.
8) Every direction issued by DGCA in the form of CARs shall
be complied with by the person or organization to whom
such direction is issued. Non- compliance with the
provisions of the CAR shall attract penalty as provided in
Schedule VI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.

9) It shall be the responsibility of each operator, owner,

organization and service provider to ensure wide publicity
of the CARs amongst its personnel and also ensure that the
implementation procedures for the requirements are duly
reflected in the related Manuals required as per the
applicable Rules and Civil Aviation Requirements .
 The regional offices of DGCA shall monitor the
compliance by all affected organisations and submit a report
to the HQ with in 3 months of the date of applicability.

10) All the CARs including their revisions are available on

the DGCA website (http://dgca.gov.in/).
Details of Series in a CAR

The various sections of a CAR may consist of subsections

(Series) covering the subjects as mentioned hereunder:
Section 1: General
Series A – Scope and Extent

Section 2: Airworthiness
Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Approval of Cockpit Check list, MEL, CDL
Series C – Defect Recording, monitoring, Investigation and Reporting
Series D – Aircraft Maintenance Programme
Series E – Approval Organizations
Series F – Airworthiness and Continued Airworthiness
Series H – Requirements of Aircraft Fuel, Refueling of Aircraft and Calibration
of Aircraft Fuels
 Series I – Aircraft Instrument, Equipment and Accessories
Series L – Aircraft Maintenance Engineer – Licensing
Series M – Mandatory Modification and Inspections
Series O – Operational Requirement for Aircraft
Series R – Airborne Communication, Navigation and Radar
Series S – Storage of Aircraft Parts
Series T – Flight Testing of Aircraft
Series X – Miscellaneous Requirements

Section 3: Air Transport

Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Operations Manual – Requirements and Approval
Series C – Air Operators Certification – Procedure and Requirements
Series D – Operations to Defence Airfields
Series E – Operations to Aerodromes which are not in regular use
Series F – Clearance of Aircraft Transiting through Indian Air Space
Series G – VVIP/VIP Flights
 Series H – Export Cargo Flights
Series I – Operation of Tourist Charter Flights
Series J – Air Transport Statistics
Series K – Tariff Regulations
Series L – Carriage of Dangerous Goods
Series M – Passenger Facilitation
Series X – Miscellaneous

Section 4: Aerodrome Standards and Licensing

Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Aerodrome Facilities
Series F – Aerodrome Licensing
Series X – Miscellaneous

Section 5: Air Safety

Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Procedure of Reporting Accident/Incident
Series C – Proceure for Accident/Incident Investigation
Series D – Bird Strike incidents
Series E – Airmiss & ATC incidents
Series F – Prevention of Accidents/incidents
Series G – Safety Audit and inspection
Series X – Miscellaneous
Section 6: Design Standards & Type Certification
Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Airworthiness Standards – Design
Series C – Airworthiness Standards – Transport Category Aircraft
Series D – Airworthiness Standards – Normal, Utility and Aerobatic Category
Aircraft
Series E – Airworthiness Standards – Rotorcraft
Series F – Procedure for Type Approval of Products Parts and Materials
Series G –Test Procedure
Series X – Miscellaneous

Section 7: Flight Crew Standards, Training and Licensing

Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Syllabus and Schedule for Examination of Subjects for issue of
Licences and Ratings
 Series C – Medical Standards and Examination
Series D – Training Organizations
Series E – Flying Training
Series F – Skill/Proficiency Checks
Series G – Issue of Licence and Rating
Series H – Renewal of Licence and Rating
Series I – Appointment/Approval of Assistant Flight instructor, Flight
Instructor, Flight Instructor Incharge, Chief Flight Instructor, Check Pilot,
Instructor, Examiner, Flight Inspector And Chief Flight Inspector.
Series J – Flight and Duty Time Limitations
Series K – Flight Inspection
Series X – Miscellaneous

Section 8: Aircraft Operations

Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – IAL Procedures and Approval
Series C – Aerodrome Operating Minima
Series X – Miscellaneous
Section 9: Air Space and Air Traffic Management (ATM)
Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Approval of Facilities and Services
Series C – Rules of the Air
Series D – Navigation, Landing and Communication Aids
Series E – Air Traffic Services
Series G – Aeronautical Charts
Series I – Aeronautical Information Services
Series L – ATCO Licensing
Series M – Meteorology
Series R – Air Routes
Series S – Search and Rescue
Series X – Miscellaneous

Section 10: Aviation Environment Protection

Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Emissions
Series C – Noise
Series X – Miscellaneous
Section 11: Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods (DG) by
Air
Series A – Scope and Extent
Series B – Carriage of Dangerous Goods
Series C – Approval of Dangerous Goods Training
Programme
Series D – Surveillance of Dangerous Goods Programme
Series X – Miscellaneous
Do we have any exemption from CAR?

Procedure for seeking exemption from Civil Aviation

Requirements.

Compliance with CARs is not optional. Occasionally,

however, there may be situations where it may not be possible
to comply with the directions given in the CARs because of
exceptional circumstances, physical constraints, non-
availability of specified equipment etc. which may warrant
exemptions from the CARs.
However such deviation would be an exception and not the
norm.
Who has the authority to exempt?

To cater to such circumstances, sub-rule (4) of Rule

133A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 provides Director-
General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) the power to
exempt any aircraft or class of aircraft or any
person or class of persons from the direction(s)
given in CARs, either wholly or partially, subject to
such conditions, if any, as may be specified in such
order which may be of a general or specific nature.
Under which rule the exemption is granted?

GRANT OF EXEMPTION UNDER RULE 133A

Note: DGCA may refuse requests for exemptions which

do not have adequate justification for non-compliance.