DJI has filed an 89-page formal comment urging the FAA to allow drone pilots to choose which method of Remote Identification to use.

DJI says this would significantly reduce the costs and complications of Remote ID while boosting compliance.

The filing includes an independent economic study that concludes the FAA’s Remote ID proposal would prove nine times as costly as the FAA’s estimates, imposing $5.6 billion worth of burdens on society over the next decade.

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It finds many of those costs could be obviated if drone pilots could choose between two different methods of compliance, rather than doing both as the FAA proposed.

Brendan Schulman, DJI’s vice president of policy and legal affairs, commented: “We have known for years that Remote ID will be required by governments worldwide and will provide members of the public with confidence in productive drone uses, but the FAA’s deeply flawed proposal poses a real threat to how American businesses, governments, educators, photographers and enthusiasts can use drones.”

Adding: “We hope our detailed economic analysis and comments, as well as tens of thousands of comments from other concerned parties, will encourage the FAA to develop a more risk-based, balanced and efficient Remote ID rule, so our customers and the entire industry are not hurt by the final outcome.”

DJI’s comment was one of more than 51,000 filed by the FAA’s March 2 deadline.

Remote ID allows authorities to identify and monitor airborne drones in near-real time, so they can see the location of the drone as well as a serial number to identify its owner.

As part of the submission, DJI wrote: “A Remote ID requirement that is costly, burdensome, complex, or subject to multiple points of failure, will be a requirement that fails.

“We offer these comments, many of which are highly critical of aspects of the FAA’s proposal, in the sincere interest of promoting a good final rule for the FAA, the U.S. Government, and the UAS industry.”