Bill to replace DGCA with Civil Aviation Authority soon
03 Apr 2013
The civil aviation ministry proposes to establish a new regulator in place of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the current regulator, which will have full operational and financial autonomy.
A bill to set up the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in place of the DGCA is likely to be tabled in Parliament in the later part of the budget session of Parliament beginning this month, official sources said today.
The Civil Aviation Authority would administer and regulate civil aviation safety and manage safety oversight over air transport operators, air service navigation operators and operators of other civil aviation facilities.
The proposed CAA would also address matters relating to financial stress on safety of air operations as also issues relating to consumer protection and environment regulations in the civil aviation sector, according to the draft legislation.
The CAA would meet the standards prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of the United Nations as also the standards prescribed by aviation regulators in other countries such as the Federal Aviation Administration of the US and the CAA of the UK, sources said.
The CAA would have a chairperson, a director-general and 7-9 members with expertise in the fields of aviation safety, aircraft engineering, flight standard operations, aerodromes, air navigation systems and air space management, among others.
They members of the board would be appointed by the central government on the recommendations of a selection committee headed by the cabinet Secretary.
The CAA would have more administrative and financial powers to deal with the fast-changing aviation scenario.
The setting up of the CAA is estimated to cost around Rs112 crore.