Assembly passes private school fee regulation Bill amid heated debate

The Delhi Assembly on Friday passed the fee regulation Bill, seeking to curb arbitrary hikes by private unaided schools, after an intense debate that stretched the session till 9.30 p.m. and ended with a voice vote.

Initially approved in April, the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025 was tabled by Education Minister Ashish Sood on Monday during the Monsoon Session.

The Bill mandates the formation of committees at the school, district, and State levels. If 15% of parents disagree with the school-level committee’s decision on fee hikes, it can escalate the matter to the district committee.

If a school is found levying a fee outside the Act’s provisions, the Directorate of Education will order a rollback and refund of excess fees. Penalties range from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh for initial violations and ₹2 lakh to ₹10 lakh for repeat offences. Schools can also be fined ₹50,000 for harassing or coercing students over non-payment or delayed payment of fees.

 Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta said the Bill will be sent to Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena for approval. 

‘Victory for parents’

Before voting on the Bill, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta congratulated Mr. Sood for speaking to multiple people and bringing in such a “beautiful Bill” that is “in the interest of the masses”. She called it a “victory for the mother who won’t have to worry about fees, and for the father who would drive an auto and work hard to put his child in an English-medium school.”

“First, it is transparent; second, there are strict rules and penalties for violations. Third, guardians, teachers and management, everyone is involved,” Ms. Gupta said. 

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had proposed eight amendments to the Bill, including replacing the 15% threshold with a flat requirement of 15 parents, but they were rejected during voting.

“There is no provision in the Bill to listen to the parents. Their right to go to court has also been taken away from them,” said AAP leader Atishi.

Mr. Sood, in response, said Opposition members were making “political statements” without reading the Bill and that during AAP’s tenure, audits were “mere formalities”.