After protests over arbitrary hikes, Delhi passes a bill to regulate private school fees, covering 1677 institutions.
All 1,677 government-aided and private unaided schools in the capital will be affected by the proposed law once it is passed.
The Delhi government has adopted a new draft bill called Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees, 2025, in a significant policy move meant to stop arbitrary price increases in schools. All 1,677 government-aided and private unaided schools in the capital will be affected by the new law, which would provide stricter control and more precise guidelines about when and how school fees can be raised.
At a press conference, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta unveiled the draft bill, citing ongoing parent concerns about unfair treatment in schools and unapproved tuition increases. She stated, “We realized there was no clear procedure to verify how schools are raising fees.” According to Gupta, the 1973 law’s lack of clear provisions to control increases in school fees made implementation all but impossible.
The government has instructed District Magistrates to conduct school inspections in response to concerns. Systemic problems with the way fees were being raised were discovered by later audits. The new measure that would specify the roles of the government, parents, and schools in the fee-setting process was approved by the Delhi Cabinet in order to close this gap.
According to Education Minister Ashish Sood, the previous show-cause notice system was inadequate. “Those were stop-gap arrangements. But now, we are proudly introducing a permanent and clear solution within just the first 65 days of our government,” he said.
It is anticipated that the measure will standardize price rise procedures, guaranteeing that educational institutions adhere to open, legally enforced standards. The decision was made in response to growing parental ire, as they have demonstrated against abrupt and significant fee increases in recent months.
Parents opposed an 18–20% annual price increase at Maharaja Agrasen Model School in Pitampura in September 2024. Despite the Department of Education’s rejection of the raise, they claimed that pupils who opposed it were given School Leaving. At Vanasthali Public School in Mayur Vihar, similar incidents occurred after a 100% fee increase sparked outrage. When parents gathered outside DPS Dwarka in April 2025 to protest fees, political pledges of involvement were made.
