The simple fact is that this is massive overkill for a relatively small problem.
BTW, £5k is more than my aircraft is worth, by far, plus it's more than most paramotors cost new.
The bottom line with this legislation is that it's a sledgehammer to crack a nut, it's poorly thought through and furthermore the RIA misrepresents the true costs and risks.
I agree wholeheartedly at the need to try and reduce airprox incidents, but cannot realistically see how fitting transponders to all and sundry would achieve this.
As a further point, foot launched powered aircraft are exempted from regulation under the ANO and I understand that single seat microlights are soon to be granted the same, or a similar, exemption. This is hardly going to make enforcement straightforward. If introduced as it stands I suspect safety might be further compromised, as those outside of the regulated environment might just be further alienated by increasingly daft rules and regulations, and hence pose a greater danger to CAT etc by ignoring much of what comes out of the Belgrano.
As with most things, education works better than regulation, and that is what will stop people behaving dangerously, not a little box that costs them a fortune and tells them nothing.
VP