India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation has notified a new set of aviation rules that will come into force on 1 January 2027. The Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2026 were issued through notification G.S.R. 957(E), dated 26 October 2026.
The rules are made under powers granted by the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024. Their stated application covers aircraft registered in India, wherever those aircraft are operating, as well as foreign-registered aircraft and the people on board them while they are in or over India.
Rules follow public consultation
The notification records that a draft version, titled the Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2025, was published in the Gazette of India on 11 July 2025. The draft was issued under section 34 of the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, with the Ministry inviting objections and suggestions from people likely to be affected.
Copies of the Gazette notification were made available to the public on 14 July 2025. The final notification states that objections and suggestions submitted within the specified period have been taken into consideration before the Central Government made the 2026 rules.
“The Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely: Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2026.”
The framework is issued under sections 10, 11, 17, 19, 20, sub-section (4) of section 25, and sections 30, 32 and 33 of the 2024 Act. The notification begins with a preliminary chapter covering the rules’ short title, application and commencement.
International and domestic scope
For aircraft registered in India, the rules apply irrespective of where the aircraft is operating. The notification separately addresses aircraft registered outside India when they are temporarily in or over Indian territory.
For foreign-registered aircraft, the notification provides that the regulations of the country of registration relating to registration, personnel licensing, airworthiness and log books will apply, provided that those regulations meet standards at least equal to the minimum standards established under the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed at Chicago on 7 December 1944.
- Commencement: 1 January 2027
- Indian-registered aircraft: covered wherever they operate
- Foreign-registered aircraft: covered while in or over India
- Consultation: objections and suggestions to the 2025 draft were considered
The notification therefore sets a clear implementation date for the new rules and defines their territorial and registration-based reach. It also links the treatment of foreign-registered aircraft to the regulatory standards applied by their state of registration and to minimum standards established under the international civil aviation convention.
