How to check if school is asking for more than permissible fees

There are different rules in different states and municipalities that try to control the fee structures of private schools either directly or indirectly. However, in absence of parent’s awareness about the same, Schools tend to make mockery of fee hikes every year. We highlight below few such regulations and guidelines mandated by Education departments in Delhi NCR, that set a maximum permissible school fee hike in respective regions.

Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad:

In April 2018, UP Government had introduced a School fee hike regulation which was later converted to an Ordinance. The Ordinance is intended to keep a tab on fee hike in private schools. As per the said regulation, the Maximum School fee hike permissible is defined by Consumer Price Index for the financial year (called CPI) + 5%. For year 2018-2019, the CPI change was 140.4 – 137.1 = 3.3% (Source:https://tradingeconomics.com/india/consumer-price-index-cpi).

Hence, in Noida, Greater Noida or Ghaziabad, for year 2019-2020, the maximum permissible fee hike over year 2018-2019 is 3.3+5 i.e. 8.3 percent.

What can parents of Noida, Greater Noida or Ghaziabad schools do: Calculate total consolidated fees for 2019-2020 session and if it exceeds more than 8.3 percent of total fees for session 2018-2019, parents shall submit a representation in person to DM office with the fees receipts and other related proofs and cover letter. Use https://go4reviews.in/2018/06/calculate-maximum-school-fee-hike-permissible-per-school-ordinance/ if you don’t want to do the Maths.

Gurgaon and Faridabad:

Under Rule 34(1) of Haryana School Education Rules, 2003, schools are granted recognition subject to the following terms and conditions stipulated in the said recognition letter. The relevant term and condition of Clause II of the said recognition letter is reproduced as under-
“The school shall charge fees and funds as declared to the appropriate authority at the time of application for recognition and display the same on the notice board of the school and shall not increase the fees during any academic session. In case of change in the fee structure, the school shall inform to the appropriate authority in the Form-VI, before the commencement of next academic session by 18th January of every year and will also issue printed receipt of fees] funds to the students”.

Hence, schools in Gurgaon and Faridabad can hike fees only after submitting Form VI and only after approval from Director of Secondary Education in Haryana.

What can parents of Gurgaon and Faridabad schools do: Seek form VI from school and check that its date is before commencement of session 2019-2020. Ensure that reason for fees hike are documented and acceptable. If not, form a representation of parents and submit to DM/Director of Senior School Education in Haryana with receipt of previous session’s fee payment and cover later depicting violation of Permissible school fee hike.

New Delhi:

In 2017, the Directorate of Education in Delhi allowed the schools to go ahead with interim fee hike up to a maximum limit of 15 percent keeping inline with the seventh pay commission’s recommendations provided they get their financial accounts audited by the government.

But amidst concerns shown by parents, the order was later withdrawn by the government in 2018, stating that the schools would have to obtain prior permission from it before increasing their fees. The schools will be allowed to hike only after audit of the schools’ accounts. However, in March 2019, Delhi HC has put a hold on the 2018 order. The government is planning to go to SC againt HC’s order but for now, the Delhi HC order allows school to hike fees by around 15 percent.

What can parents of Delhi schools do: Parents need to reach DoE for any discrepancies seen in school hike above 15%. They shall document the fees payment well so that if SC is not in agreement with HC’s order, they can demand the rollback and refund of excess payment.

Disclaimer: Readers are advised to do an independent audit and verification of data (and calculation) given above, before arriving to a final conclusion.

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Last Updated on April 21, 2019 by Go4Reviews