Fee regulation Bill ignores audits, backs schools: Atishi

NEW DELHI

The fee regulation Bill is in the interest of schools and not parents because it makes no mention of financial audits, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Atishi claimed on Friday.

Approved in April, the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025 was passed by the Assembly on Friday. It stipulates three levels of checks through committees formed at the school, district, and State levels. 

“The only way you can tell if a school’s fee hike is legitimate or not is if you audit all the accounts: check all the money that is coming in and all the money that is going out. In this entire Bill, the word audit is not even mentioned once. What if they have crores of surplus [money] lying [unused]?” Ms. Atishi told The Hindu.

Recalling the previous AAP government’s efforts to regulate fee hikes, she said her party in 2015 had sent the fee hike Bill to the Central government, but it was not approved.

“When we could not pass it, we started audits of schools. First, we did a base-level audit and then found out that one school had ₹90 crore in surplus, another school bought a farmhouse for their management, one got luxury cars, and they were all asking for fee hikes. Until you do an audit, you will never know where the money is going,” she said.

‘Managements favoured’

Ms. Atishi alleged that the Bill’s provisions favour private school managements. “How and when they [provisions] were introduced — all go to show that it is in the interest of schools and not parents… You have made a committee that is headed by the school management. There are only 5% members and selected by a draw of lots. Everyone in this city knows that you can manage the draw of lots,” she said.

Ms. Atishi said during AAP rule, many schools had to refund excess fees.