Aicraft Title & Registrations: India

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the governmental agency in charge of the civil aviation registry in India. India has a single-registry system. 

The DGCA’s aircraft register is an owner registry, although it also includes details of the operator, if different from the owner. There is no separate register for leases and aircraft engines maintained in India. Further, once registered with the DGCA, there is no requirement to have the aircraft ownership registered with any other registry in India. 

Form CA-28 must be filed with the DGCA for the registration of the aircraft along with the following documents: 

 All documents that are required to be submitted to the DGCA must be notarized and apostilled. 

The following fee is payable in respect of a Certificate of Registration for an aircraft having maximum permissible take-off weight —  

Note: For the purpose of registration of the aircraft, the maximum take-off weight is as indicated in the Flight Manual of the aircraft. 

There is no weight restriction to register an aircraft in India. However, there are age restrictions on importing an aircraft into India. 

Pressurized aircraft intended to be imported and used in passenger services (scheduled/non-scheduled) and general aviation operation, should not have completed 18 years of age or 65% of designed economic life in terms of pressurization cycle, whichever is earlier. In case of aircraft above 15 years of age, the aircraft must have flown at least for 100 hours during the last six months from the date of application for import. In case, the aircraft has undergone major maintenance within six months prior to the date of import, the requirement of having flown for 100 hours within the last six months shall not be applicable.  

Aircraft intended to be imported for air cargo operations should not have completed 25 years in age or 75 percent of its design economic life in terms of pressurization cycles, whichever limitation is completed earlier.  

Age restrictions are not applicable (i) for local acquisition of Indian registered aircraft maintained in accordance with DGCA approved procedures; and (ii) for import of aircraft exclusively for the purpose of aerial work operations. 

Courts in India accept the Certificate of Registration issued by the DGCA as prima facie evidence of lessor, lender or owner interest in the aircraft. It would be difficult to defend a case in courts against third parties if the owner has no or defective title as per the records of the DGCA. 

Title in an aircraft can be transferred by execution of a sale agreement or a bill of sale between the seller and the buyer of an aircraft. If the sale agreement is executed outside India and is subsequently brought into India, whether by way of physical delivery or fax, email or any other electronic means for any purpose, the same will have to be stamped within the statutorily prescribed period in accordance with the stamp laws in force in the relevant state in which the transaction documents are brought. In addition to the stamp duty requirement, the transfer documents should be notarised and apostilled for submitting to governmental authorities such as the DGCA. The costs involved would be the stamp duty payable on the transaction documents and the registration fee that shall be payable to the DGCA if the aircraft is not already registered with the DGCA. 

The DGCA issues the Certificate of Registration for the aircraft. The Certificate of Registration contains information about the type of aircraft, the manufacturer’s serial number, year of manufacture, nationality and registration marks allotted, full name, nationality and address of the owner/lessor, usual station of aircraft, the date of registration and the period of validity of the registration. In the case of a leased aircraft, the Certificate of Registration also includes the validity of the lease and the name, nationality and address of the lessee.  

The aircraft register is open for inspection to members of the public, both at the DGCA headquarters as well as on the DGCA website. The Inspection is free of charge.  

Certificate of Registration of an aircraft is not equivalent to an operator permit. For different types of operations, relevant approvals must be sought from the DGCA.  

Yes, DGCA does authorise the operation of foreign registered aircraft in India subject to various permissions and regulations. 

Article 83 bis to the Chicago Convention provides for the transfer of certain safety oversight responsibilities from the State of Registry to the State of the Operator. DGCA only enters into an Article 83 bis agreement for a foreign registered aircraft to be operated within India under an Indian Air Operator Permit if: 

There is no separate registry for leases, mortgages or other rights over aircraft maintained in India. If the aircraft is owned by an Indian entity, the security created over the aircraft by way of hypothecation is required to be registered with the relevant Registrar of Companies within 30 days from the date of creation of the charge. 

There is a fee for registration of an aircraft at the DGCA that is based on the weight of the aircraft. Apart from this fee, there is no other fee payable for registering a lease. The security created over the aircraft, owned by an Indian entity, by way of hypothecation is required to be registered with the relevant Registrar of Companies within 30 days from the date of creation of the charge. It is also recommended that the deed of hypothecation be filed and recorded with the DGCA. It ensures that the security interest along with the details of the hypothecation are endorsed on the Certificate of Registration of the aircraft. The stamp duty on the deed of hypothecation so executed will also be required to be paid in accordance with the stamp duty payable in the relevant state. Further, the details of security should also be registered on the International Registry maintained under the Cape Town Convention and Protocol.

No, mortgage priority notices are not available in India. 

DGCA is the only aircraft registry in India, and there is no separate registry for leases and aircraft engines maintained in India. Typically, engines are not considered distinct from the aircraft. The hypothecation agreement would specify whether the security interest extends to the engines. If the aircraft is owned by an Indian entity, the security created over the aircraft by way of hypothecation is required to be registered with the relevant Registrar of Companies within 30 days from the date of creation of the charge. 

The following dues would rank prior to a registered aircraft mortgage, (i) unpaid wages of airline employees; (ii) dues of the repairers for repairs of aircraft in the repairers’ possession; and (iii) governmental or other unpaid statutory dues. 

Indian laws permit the Central Government to empower any authority to detain an aircraft if such detention is necessary to secure compliance with a domestic legislation or when such detention is necessary to prevent the contravention of any legislation or to implement any order made by any court. For instance, the Airports Authority of India has been authorised to detain an aircraft until all fees owed to it by the operator have been paid. 

Yes, foreign law–governed security agreements are recognized in India in order to validly create a security interest over an aircraft registered in India. Indian law, in general, recognizes the freedom of the parties from different jurisdictions to choose the proper law of contract.  

Courts in India uphold foreign law as the governing law of leases if the lease agreement is with a foreign party and recognizes the parties’ freedom to choose the proper law of contract. Indian courts will generally recognize foreign law-governed lease agreements in relation to aircraft and engines, and submission to a foreign jurisdiction, if it is not opposed to the public policy of India. 

India acceded to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Protocol) on March 31, 2008. However, only specific provisions of the Cape Town Convention and the Protocol became effective on July 1, 2008. From February 2015, the Indian Aircraft Rules were amended to give the Central Government of India the power to cancel the registration of an Indian-registered aircraft, to which the provisions of the Cape Town Convention or the Protocol apply, by way of an application from the irrevocable deregistration and export request authorisation (IDERA) holder. At the time of entering into a lease transaction, an IDERA can be filed with the DGCA and the acknowledgment of the DGCA can be obtained. While there is no requirement that the IDERA be countersigned by the DGCA, it is advisable that the acknowledgment of the DGCA be obtained as this ensures that the DGCA will note the fact of issuance of the IDERA by the operator and that the owner or lessor is entitled to exercise its rights under the IDERA. 

Under Indian law, deregistration of an aircraft can only be done by the owner or the owner’s authorised representatives. The holder of an IDERA may apply to the DGCA for cancellation of the registration of the aircraft at the end of the lease term or prior to the expiry of the aircraft lease after: 

It is mandatory for the DGCA to deregister an aircraft within five working days of the submission of an application. 

No fees are payable for deregistration of an aircraft from India. The dues of the airport operator and other statutory authorities must be cleared prior to deregistration of the aircraft from India. 

Under Indian law, deregistration of an aircraft can only be done by the owner or the owner’s authorised representatives. The holder of an IDERA may apply to the DGCA for cancellation of the registration of the aircraft at the end of the lease term or prior to the expiry of the aircraft lease after: 

It is mandatory for the DGCA to deregister an aircraft within five working days of the submission of an application as per the above-mentioned procedure.  

Deregistration of an aircraft has become a fairly simple process in recent years. Courts in India have recognized the mandatory nature of IDERA based deregistration and upheld the duty cast upon the DGCA to deregister an aircraft within stipulated timelines on the basis of an IDERA, thereby ensuring speedier repossession of aircraft by lessors and owners. 

The holder of an IDERA may apply to the DGCA for cancellation of the registration of the aircraft at the end of the lease term or prior to the expiry of the aircraft lease after (i) providing the original or notarised copy of the IDERA; and (ii), ensuring that either all registered interests in respect of the aircraft have been discharged; or the holders of such registered interests have consented to the deregistration or export of the aircraft. If the owner/lessor of an aircraft, in an event of default submits the IDERA to the DGCA, the DGCA is duty bound to deregister the aircraft, without the need for any co-operation/consent from the defaulted party (mortgagor/lessee/operator) or judicial intervention. It is mandatory for the DGCA to deregister an aircraft within five working days of the submission of an application as per the above-mentioned procedure. 

The owner/lessor may repossess the aircraft on the basis of a duly stamped and notarised IDERA if such an instrument has been issued by the lessee in its favour. If the DGCA fails or refuses to deregister the aircraft, the owner/lessor may initiate legal action to repossess the aircraft. As the DGCA is a government body, the lessor can file a writ petition in the High Court, within whose jurisdiction the DGCA’s order was passed, seeking to quash the DGCA’s order and asking for a direction to be issued to the DGCA to rehear the application for deregistration and repossession.