CHENNAI: Amid complaints about some CBSE-affiliated schools hiking fees arbitrarily, the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Fee Determination Committee, retired Justice R Balasubramanian, stated that the committee does not have the authority to plead the Supreme Court to bring CBSE schools under its jurisdiction.
“The committee cannot set fees for the CBSE schools because they have an interim order allowing them to determine their own fees. Aggrieved parents can seek legal aid to vacate the stay, after which we can look into the issue of CBSE schools charging exorbitant fees. However, the committee does not have the mandate to involve itself in the case,” he said.
The committee was formed in 2009 through the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, along with other state-level fee determination committees as per a Supreme Court order. The committee was given the power to regulate fees for all private schools, including those affiliated with CBSE. In a case filed by CBSE schools in 2012, the Madras High Court upheld the Act, stating that the state government has the authority to regulate the fees collected by CBSE schools. However, the CBSE schools obtained an interim order from the Supreme Court limiting the role of the committee in fixing the fees.
Since its inception, the committee has not received any application from any CBSE school to fix the fee structure for them, primarily due to the stay order by the Supreme Court. It is therefore clear that unless a fee structure is fixed by the committee, there is no question of the committee entertaining any complaint that a CBSE school is collecting any fee in excess of the committee-determined fee.
The chairman also said the committee has not received any petitions from parents asking it to appeal to the Supreme Court against the interim order. “Even if the parents petition the committee, it is not our mandate,” he said.