The Ministry of Communication, Deptt of Telecom WPC Wing, Govt. of India issues various types of licences to Radio Amateur?s under Indian Wireless telegraph act 1978. The details of grades as well as authorized modes and power allotted for respective grades are as given below:

Restricted Grade Amateur Station Operator?s Licence permits only short distance terrestrial communication using power output of 10 Watts in the very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) bands. The frequency range for VHF is 144-146 MHz while for UHF is 434-438 MHz.

The modes of communication allowed are Radio Telephony (voice) using Amplitude Modulation (AM), Single Side Band (SSB) using reduced or variable carrier and Frequency Modulation.  This band is advised for metro cities or where more Hams are active on VHF band. A typical possible range for this grade is approx. 30 Km depending on the height of antenna, directional gain of antenna and SWR (standing wave ratio) of antenna system.

The person holding Amateur Station Operator?s Licence Grade ? II is allowed for world wide long distance communication in AM, SSB, FM and most favourate CW (Morse Code) using power output 50 Watts in different allotted short-wave bands or HF bands ranging from  1.8 to 30 MHz.  He is also allowed  VHF / UHF bands as restricted grade.  It is to noted that that the entitlement for authorization of voice communication (radio telephony)  is on the basis of providing proof of having made 100 contacts with fellow Hams using Morse code. That means one has to send his original licence to WPC for voice endorsement along with the Xerox copy of log book. After getting the permission he can go on the air with voice communication.

             Holding the Amateur Station Operator?s Licence Grade?I, one can use the output power 150 Watts in HF band and 25 Watts in VHF / UHF bands as allotted for Grade ? II licence. Additional UHF spectrum from 1260 MHz to 1300 MHz including the Super High Frequency (SHF) from 3300 MHz to 3400 MHz and 5725 to 5840 MHz spectrum are also available to this category licence. Having this licence one go directly to voice communication including Morse code.

Other advanced modes like Radio Teletype (RTTY), Amateur Radio teleprinting Over Radio (AMTOR), Packet Radio (an advanced technique of digital data communication through computer connected to a wireless transceiver), PSK31 (the latest digital communication mode in which a computer equipped with a sound-blaster card can be directly connected to a wireless transceiver for data reception and transmission), Amateur television (ATV) using Slow Scan Telecast SSTV are also permitted. He is also permitted to work on amateur radio communication satellites with this licence.

Advanced Grade Amateur Station Operator?s Licence is the highest grade of licence in India.  The frequency spectrum and modes are same as for Grade ? I  operator but in some cases the power allotted are different like  he can use 50 Watts for VHF and higher bands while in some HF bands the 400 Watts power is allowed for this category.  The syllabus of exam for this grade is also more than other grades.