NEW DELHI: The cabinet, led by CM Rekha Gupta, has approved an ordinance to regulate fees charged by schools, Education Minister Ashish Sood said on Tuesday.
“The ordinance will be sent for presidential assent through the Lieutenant-Governor. This is a day of happiness for parents whose children study in private schools. It will eventually take the form of a law,” Sood said, adding that the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Ordinance, 2025, once enacted, will restrain private schools from arbitrarily increasing fees. The ordinance will come into effect retrospectively from April 1, 2025.
As per the ordinance, there are strict penalties for schools involved in hiking fees arbitrarily. If a school is found charging fees that exceed the permitted norms, it must roll back the excess amount and refund it within 20 working days, the ordinance said. The ordinance says if the school fails to refund the amount within the stipulated time, the fine will double after 20 days, triple after 40 days, and continue to increase with every 20-day delay.
For a first offence, the school will be fined between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh and for repeat offences, the penalty will increase to anywhere between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, according to the ordinance.