DJI, the global leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, has released an 89-page formal comment urging the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow drone pilots to choose which method of Remote Identification to make use of with their drones, which would significantly cut the costs and issues of Remote ID while boosting compliance.

DJI’s comment consists of an independent economic study that concludes the FAA’s Remote ID proposal would prove nine times as pricey as the FAA’s forecasts, imposing $5.6 billion worth of burdens on society over the next 10 years.

The evaluation finds many of these costs could be removed if drone pilots could select between two different strategies of compliance, rather than doing both as the FAA recommended.

The economic evaluation was prepared by Dr. Christian Dippon, Managing Director at NERA Economic Consulting, who considered the societal costs of the FAA’s drafted guideline. He concluded the average month-to-month cost of a Remote ID network-based service for a drone user would be $9.83, rather than the FAA’s $2.50 forecast; that demand for drones would plunge 10% if the FAA’s proposals had been imposed as written; that total costs over a decade would be $5.6 billion instead of the FAA’s $582 million estimate.

DJI’s comment was one of over 51,000 lodged by the FAA’s March 2 deadline and is predicted to be available soon.

Remote ID allows a government to establish and monitor airborne drones in near-actual time, so they can see the location of the drone in addition to a serial number to determine its owner.