Parents get veto power as Delhi Assembly passes school fee regulation bill

New Delhi: The Delhi Assembly on Friday passed the School Fee Regulation Bill, 2025, which gives veto power to parents in decisions regarding fee hikes, ensuring that school managements cannot unilaterally impose fee increases.

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood, in the Assembly, said, "If even a single parent member disagrees, the proposal for fee hike will not be approved. They will have veto power, and the management cannot impose its decision unilaterally."

According to the provisions of the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025, schools found arbitrarily hiking fees could face penalties ranging from fines to losing their right to propose fee revisions in the future.

The Bill lays out that if a school charges fees beyond the permitted limit, it must refund the excess amount within 20 working days.

Failing to do so will invite escalating penalties -- the fine doubled after 20 days, triple after 40 days, and will continue to increase with every 20-day delay.

According to the Bill, a first-time violation will attract a fine between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. Repeat offences will lead to penalties ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

Persistent violators may also be barred from holding official posts in the school management.

The Bill also mandates the formation of three committees to oversee the fee regulation process -- one each at the school level, district level and a higher-level Revision Committee, which will act as the final authority in fee-related disputes.

The Revision Committee, as outlined in the Bill, will be headed by the Director of Education and will include an eminent educationist, a chartered accountant, the Controller of Accounts, representatives of schools and parents, and a former education official. Its decisions will be binding for a period of three years.

The Bill further proposes that the District Committee will be chaired by the District Director of Education and include the zone's Deputy Director of Education, two principals nominated by the Directorate of Education (DoE), and two parent representatives also nominated by the DoE.

Each private unaided school including those following Indian or foreign curricula, minority-run schools, and those allocated government land at concessional rates will be required to establish a School Level Fee Regulation Committee by July 15 of every academic year, under the bill.

The Bill specifies that the school-level committee will be chaired by a management representative, with the principal as secretary.

It will also include three teachers, five parents (selected by draw of lots), one nominee from the DoE, at least one member from SC/ST/OBC categories, and at least two women.

The committee's tenure will be one academic year.

According to the Bill, the list of committee members must be displayed within seven working days of its formation, and the committee must conduct its first general meeting before August 15.

Parents cannot serve on the committee for more than two consecutive years and will be eligible for renomination only after a two-year gap.

The Bill also mentions that while schools retain the autonomy to propose fee structures, it must be done within a prescribed framework.

For the academic year 2025'“26, the fees already charged from April 1, 2025, will be considered the proposed fees.

Appeals related to fee disputes can first be taken to the District Committee. If unresolved, the matter can be escalated to the Revision Committee, whose decisions will be final and binding, as stated in the Bill.