The Delhi government has taken an important step to control the arbitrary increase in fees in private schools. In fact, the government has introduced the ‘Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fee Determination and Regulation) Bill, 2025’ in the Assembly.
Its objective is to make fee determination in private schools in the capital transparent and accountable. The government has termed this bill as “historic”.
The bill will apply to Delhi ‘s 1,677 private unaided schools, including those built on private land or run by minority institutions. Till now, these schools did not face much monitoring in fee fixation. A key aspect of this law is a three-tier regulation system that will control the increase in school fees.
What is a three-tier system?
School-level fee regulation committee : This committee will be formed in every school, which will include school management, teachers. This committee will be able to approve fee hike up to a maximum of 15% annually based on criteria such as salary, infrastructure and local demographics.
District Fee Appeal Committee : If there is a dispute over any increase, parents can appeal to this committee headed by the local Deputy Director of Education. This committee will review the cases brought by parents.
State Level Review Committee : This committee will be headed by an independent educationist and its decisions will be binding for three years. Schools will have to inform about the proposed fee hike by 31 July every year and the final decision will be taken by mid-September.
strict action on violation
This bill has a provision of fine ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh on the violating schools. If the schools fail to return the excess fee, then this fine will be doubled. In case of repeated violation of rules, the recognition of the school can be cancelled or the government can take over the management of the school.
Criticisms are also not less
Although the government is quite positive about the bill, many criticisms have also come to the fore. In fact, many people consider the requirement of consent of at least 15% of the parents to file a complaint as an obstacle, which will make it difficult to file individual complaints. Concerns have also been raised about giving “legal recognition” to fee hike up to 15 percent.
The bill does not mandate independent financial audits, raising questions about the effectiveness of monitoring. Moreover, the proposal to implement the bill with effect from 1 April 2025 could pave the way for schools to legitimise previously controversial fee hikes.
Defending the government
Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood has described the bill as “the most democratic fee regulation law ever”. He said that this law gives parents direct participation in the decision-making process and provides a clear and structured system to prevent arbitrary fee hike.
