Beijing tightens drone crackdown, bans possession, storage across city from Nov 15

As per local reports, existing drone owners can sell their devices at designated buyback locations and receive a subsidy. They can also scrap and recycle the drones with a smaller subsidy, or move them outside Beijing before November 15. Beijing will ban residents and businesses from possessing or storing drones and key drone components within the city from November 15, authorities said, tightening restrictions on the devices after a series of security measures introduced earlier this year.The revised rules, approved this month and released on Sunday, will allow authorities to confiscate drones from those who violate the ban and impose fines on individuals and companies. Existing owners will be offered subsidies to sell or scrap their drones before the new rules take effect.The move marks the latest step in Beijing's tightening regulation of drones. The city had already banned unauthorised drone flights and designated its entire administrative area as restricted airspace on security grounds.Under rules approved in March and effective from May 1, existing drone owners were required to register their devices using their real names and identities. They were initially allowed to keep t...