Delhi: Private School Fee Regulation Bill introduced in the Assembly

New Delhi, Aug 5 In a step toward regulating private school fees, the Delhi government on Tuesday introduced the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025, in the Assembly.

Education Minister Ashish Sood said the Bill is designed to bring predictability, transparency, and accountability to the fee structures of private unaided schools across the capital.

He said that the Bill establishes a comprehensive institutional framework to ensure transparency and accountability in private school fee regulation, with active involvement of all stakeholders — parents, teachers, and school management.

The Minister said the Bill proposes a transparent and inclusive three-tier mechanism, which includes a school-level committee, a district-level appellate committee, and a state-level revision committee to ensure fair resolution of fee-related matters.

The Bill prohibits any form of coercive action against a school student for non-payment of fees.

He said violations will attract a penalty of Rs 50,000 per student, which will be doubled after 20 days and tripled if uncorrected after another 20 days.

“For broader non-compliance with fee regulations, schools can be fined up to Rs 10 lakh. In extreme or repeated cases, the Director of Education is empowered to suspend recognition or even take over the school’s management to ensure compliance,” he said.

“This Bill is a decisive step toward ending arbitrary fee hikes,” he said.

The restrictions imposed on coercive actions include prohibition on striking the student’s name from the rolls, withholding exam results, denying access to classrooms or co-curricular activities, public humiliation or psychological harassment and penalties and enforcement.

Sood said schools will not be permitted to increase fees under the following circumstances: If their recognition is under suspension, if they fail to pay staff salaries as per legal standards and if there is evidence of diversion of school funds.

Earlier, legislators from the ruling BJP expressed gratitude towards Sood and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta for drafting a student and parent-friendly Bill.

Malviya Nagar MLA Satish Upadhyay said, “The initiative shows the BJP government’s political will and resolve to introduce change-oriented policies.”

He hit out at the previous AAP government for doing little for the education sector and using it just as a “political marketing tool” and a mode for spending public money on advertising.

BJP MLA from Ghonda Ajay Kumar Mahawar called the introduction day of the Bill “historic and one that promised to revolutionise the education sector”.

Adarsh Nagar MLA Raj Kumar Bhatia said the Bill reflects the Rekha Gupta government’s concern for students and their parents.

All through the congratulatory statements of BJP MLAs for Sood, the Opposition AAP legislators raised objections, describing the legislation as a tool to allow private schools to charge fees at will.

Ahead of the consideration of the Bill in the Assembly, Sood discussed with a group of parents on the proposed legislation.

The Minister took note of their concerns and reiterated that the said Bill represents a landmark reform aimed at establishing a transparent, fair, and accountable framework for fee regulation in all unaided private schools.

The Minister said that some groups are creating false narratives about the Bill and clarified that it does not weaken government control over private institutions.

He said the Bill supplements and strengthens the existing statutory framework under the Delhi School Education Act, 1973, and the rules framed thereunder.

It neither supersedes nor derogates existing law, but introduces additional checks and balances in the interest of students and parents.

Sood underlined that for the first time, the Education Department will be empowered to act on even a single complaint from a parent in cases of arbitrary fee hikes.

The bill will apply to all private unaided recognised schools in Delhi.

--IANS

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