Law to regulate school fee in Delhi risks becoming procedural, say parents; minister says ‘small, politicised circle criticising new rules’

“Without addressing these, the law risks becoming procedural,” he said.

Parents’ group Forum for Indian Parents (FIP), while acknowledging that parents have finally been formally recognised as stakeholders in fee determination, said the new law still leaves families “in dilemma” about whether they will be adequately protected from “commercialisation of education” or “victimisation during fee disputes”.

The group criticised the lack of independent audits, the burden placed on parents to scrutinise school accounts, the complexity of the complaints and appeals structure, and the requirement that complaints to the district committees that are to be set up must be backed by at least 15% of the affected parents.

The Delhi-based parents group also raised concerns about the absence of accountability mechanisms for DoE officials and the lack of clarity regarding the fee structure during three-year academic blocks, when the slabs cannot be changed.

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood, meanwhile, said the government’s intent was “clear and long overdue”. Speaking to The Indian Express, he claimed that “99% of the parents are happy” that a fee-regulation framework, which he said had been “neglected for years by the previous governments”, has finally been put in place.

“In less than 10 months (of the BJP government coming to power), we have notified the new rules… The intent is completely clear,” Sood said. The BJP-led Delhi government has positioned the new law as one of the key administrative steps it has taken since coming to power.

Maintaining that “a very small, politicised circle” was criticising the new Act, Sood reiterated that education “is not a business, it is a right”. In a statement issued on Friday, he urged parents to “actively support” the new system.

The new law was officially notified on December 9 after Lieutenant-Governor V K Saxena issued the Gazette notification.

Under the new law, more than 1,500 private unaided recognised schools in Delhi are prohibited from collecting any fee not explicitly defined and sanctioned. The Act establishes a three-tier structure – the School-Level Fee Regulation Committee, the District Fee Appellate Committee and the Revision Committee — which will oversee fee fixation, review and appeals.

Financial statements must be disclosed publicly, and schools must support fee-revision proposals with audited accounts. The law defines permissible fee heads, including admission charges, registration charges, security deposit, tuition fee, term fee, annual charges and development fee.

The school-level committee includes parents, teachers and management representatives as well as the principal and an observer from DoE overseeing proceedings. As per the Act, district committees, chaired by serving or retired government officers and assisted by a chartered accountant and a parent representative, must complete reviews by July 30 each year.

Appeals to the revision committee must be filed within 30 days and disposed of within 45 days. Its decisions will be binding for a block of three academic years.