The Punjab government has imposed a 30-day ban on outdoor drone flights across the province, citing security concerns. The order was issued by the Punjab home secretary under Section 144(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898—a legal provision that lets administrators restrict certain activities for public order. District administrations and police have been directed to ensure the ban is enforced strictly.
What the Home Department allows
According to a Home Department notification and a departmental spokesperson, the ban does not cover every kind of drone use. Limited use of small drones will still be allowed for event coverage inside halls and marquees. Organisers must keep those indoor flights safe.
Intelligence agencies and law enforcement organisations have been exempted from the restrictions, so official security operations with drones can continue.
Permits for farms and research
The government is also setting up district-level Safe Drone Usage Committees. Those committees will issue written permits for drone work linked to agriculture, irrigation and research. Flights that have that written approval will remain outside the ban.
Anyone planning outdoor recreational or commercial flights without such clearance will need to wait out the 30-day period or seek the relevant committee’s written permission where the rules allow it.
How the order will be enforced
The Punjab Home Department framed the restrictions as a province-wide security measure. Provincial administration and police units across Punjab have been told to implement the orders firmly. The ban applies outdoors; the indoor event exception and the written-permit path for farm, irrigation and research work are the main legal openings described so far.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Punjab sarkar ne poore province mein bahar drone urane par 30 din ki pabandi laga di hai, security ke liye. Shaadi ya event ke andar hall aur marquee mein chhote drone ab bhi chal sakte hain, lekin zimmedari organisers ki hai. Kheti, irrigation aur research ke liye district committee se likhi ijazat leni hogi. Intelligence aur police ke drones is pabandi se bahar hain.
