New Delhi, Apr 1 (PTI) Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed The Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2025 that seeks to give legal effect to certain international agreements in their application to India.
Replying to the discussion on the bill, Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said the legislation will create a lot of security for both the lessors and the lessees and the overall aviation market also because there has been a lot of confusion in this area. It has been a grey area for sometime.
“With the bringing of this bill, definitely it is going to create a lot more clarity. We hope this is going to give a lot of push for the leasing industry, which is the need of the hour. There is an immediate need for this bill to be there in the industry,” he said.
The bill seeks to give legal effect to certain international agreements in their application to India, which includes Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (also known as Capetown Convention of 2001) and Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Aircraft Equipment. India had acceded to these in 2008.
The Bill states that before exercising any remedy, the creditor must notify the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about the occurrence of a default.
In cases of a default, it gives creditors certain remedies, including the right to take back possession of the asset within two months or a mutually agreed upon period, whichever is earlier.
“This is a very important Bill which the industry needs today. It is going to change the aviation landscape of the country,” the aviation minister said.
The Bill was introduced in the upper house on February 10 this year.
“The whole reason we are bringing this Act is to give force of law to the Capetown convention and protocol. If you see the majority, other than giving the force of law, it contains the Capetown convention, it contains the aircraft protocol and the declaration which we are signing, abiding ourselves to both the convention and protocol as a signatory to the International Civil Aviation Organisation,” the minister said.
The convention and the protocol aim to bring uniformity in securing rights for high-value assets such as aircraft, helicopters and engines.