Draft bill 2025: Delhi schools may face Rs 50k fine per student for charging excess fees
NEW DELHI: The Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) draft bill 2025, which is likely to be passed in the monsoon session of Delhi assembly, will have strict provisions for schools found to increase fees.
The bill aims to set guidelines for all private and govt schools in the city to regulate school fees.
Sources in the education department of Delhi govt said that the bill has been given final shape with provisions such as a Rs 50,000 fine to be imposed by the director of education in the case of each student.
The administration would also have the power to seal and sell the school property in case of repeated violations and fines not being paid.
The sources added that there would also be a provision to double the amount of the fine if it is not paid within a fixed timeframe.
Delhi govt had earlier called a special session of the assembly on Tuesday and Wednesday to pass the bill, but it has now been postponed. The sources said that the bill is now likely to be passed in the monsoon session, which is expected in July.
The bill's draft advocates the establishment of a school-level fee regulation committee, a district fee appellate committee and a revision committee to oversee fee structures and address grievances.
According to the draft bill, every school shall constitute, within two months of the passage of the bill, a school-level fee regulation committee for each academic year. The panel would comprise representatives of the school management, the principal, three teachers and five parents. The observer would be the director of education of the committee.
Similarly, in the district fee appellate committee, the chairperson would be the deputy director of education and the member secretary would be the deputy director of education (zonal).
It would comprise a chartered accountant (CA), parents and teachers. In the revision committee, there would be an eminent person from the education sector.
The bill mandates the selection of parent and teacher representatives by draw of lots and decision-making by majority vote within committees. It bars schools from taking coercive action against students for non-payment of fees, such as striking off names from rolls, withholding examination results, denying access to classes or activities, or subjecting students to public humiliation or psychological harassment.
The draft bill also states that there should be representation of all stakeholders, including parents, teachers and members from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes, and women, in the school-level
fee regulation committees
.
"For the first time, the 1,677 private schools in Delhi will be governed by legally regulated fee guidelines," said an official.
He said that there have been complaints from parents and students about arbitrary fee hikes and the expulsion of children from schools. "It was reported that school managements were not only charging arbitrary fees, but also harassing students who could not pay, threatening to expel them," the official added.
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