The Delhi government has moved to tighten the implementation of its school fee regulation law, putting a clear timeline in place for the constitution of School-Level Fee Regulation Committees (SLFRCs) and restricting private schools from imposing fresh fee hikes until the next fee structure is formally approved.The Delhi School Education (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2026 was tabled in the Delhi Legislative Assembly on Friday, the opening day of the Monsoon Session. The order seeks to address procedural difficulties that emerged after the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act came into force late in the 2025-26 academic year.
Why the Delhi government brought the order
The fee regulation law required School-Level Fee Regulation Committees to be constituted by July 15 of the relevant academic year. However, the legislation was notified and brought into effect only on December 10, 2025.This created a practical problem for the 2025-26 academic year. By the time the law became operational, the deadline for setting up the committees had already passed.The government has now invoked the removal-of-difficulties provision under Section 21 of the Act to establish a workable timeline for implementing the legislation. The latest order is intended to give effect to the law for three-year fee cycles beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.The move also seeks to prevent a gap between the end of one approved fee cycle and the fixation of fees for the next cycle from becoming an opportunity for schools to impose unregulated increases.
Private schools given 10 days to constitute fee committees
Under the order, private schools will have 10 days from the date of its publication in the Delhi Gazette to constitute their School-Level Fee Regulation Committees for the three-year block beginning in 2026-27.Once the committees are constituted, school managements will have another 14 days to submit details of their proposed fee structure for the next three academic years.The SLFRCs will then examine and fix the fees in accordance with the provisions of the Act.The government has also clarified that SLFRCs constituted under its December 24, 2025 order will continue to remain valid under the new framework. This provision is aimed at avoiding the need to restart the process for committees that have already been constituted.
No fresh fee hike during the current academic year
The most significant provision for parents is the restriction on fee increases during the transition period.The order makes it clear that schools cannot charge more than the fee they were already charging from April 1, 2025, until the fee for the next three-year block is fixed under the Act.In effect, no fresh fee hike is permitted during the current academic year merely because the next fee structure has not yet been finalised.The provision is particularly important because the government had earlier faced concerns over the timing of committee formation. If the committees were constituted only around June or July, schools could potentially have completed the admission process for the following academic year by April before their fee structures were reviewed.Education Minister Ashish Sood said the government invoked the provision to ensure that fee regulation committees are constituted in time and that schools do not impose exorbitant fees on parents and students.He also said the matter had been challenged in court, following which the government agreed to keep the issue in abeyance and assured that schools would not increase fees until the committees were constituted.
What happens when a three-year fee cycle ends
The order also addresses another potential gap in the fee regulation system.If a three-year fee cycle expires before the fee structure for the succeeding three-year period has been approved, schools cannot use the intervening period to increase fees.Instead, they must continue charging the fee fixed for the last year of the previous three-year block until the new fee structure is formally determined.This provision effectively creates a financial safeguard for parents and prevents schools from treating delays in the regulatory process as a window for unilateral fee increases.
District-level appellate committees to be set up
The order does not stop at school-level regulation. It also directs the Directorate of Education (DoE) to establish District Fee Appellate Committees (DFACs) for every education district within 30 days.The appellate mechanism is expected to provide a formal route for addressing disputes arising from fee fixation and related decisions.With both school-level committees and district-level appellate bodies being brought within specified timelines, the government is attempting to create a more structured regulatory chain for private school fees.
2025-26 fee collections remain under scrutiny
The government has also not closed the door on complaints regarding fees charged during the 2025-26 academic year.The order states that any “exorbitant fee” charged by schools during 2025-26 will be regulated and examined, subject to the final outcome of court proceedings challenging the fee regulation law.The legal challenge is currently pending before the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India. This means the implementation of some provisions concerning the earlier academic year remains linked to the outcome of the ongoing litigation.
Schools face regulatory action for missing deadlines
The government has made it clear that the timelines prescribed in the order are not merely advisory.Failure by schools or concerned authorities to comply with the stipulated requirements can lead to administrative and regulatory action under the Act and the applicable Rules.The order therefore places obligations on both sides of the regulatory system, private schools must constitute committees and submit proposed fee structures within the prescribed period, while the Directorate of Education must establish the district-level appellate mechanism within 30 days.
What the order means for parents
For parents of children studying in Delhi’s private schools, the immediate takeaway is straightforward: schools cannot impose a fresh fee increase above the applicable fee while the new three-year fee structure is awaiting approval.The order also seeks to bring greater predictability to the fee-setting process by establishing three-year cycles, fixed timelines for committee formation, and a mechanism to deal with disputes.At a broader level, the Delhi government’s latest move is an attempt to close the procedural gaps that emerged when the fee regulation law came into force midway through the 2025-26 academic year. The success of the framework, however, will ultimately depend on timely implementation by schools and authorities and on how the pending court cases are resolved.
