Delhi govt. passes ordinance to regulate private school fee hikes; here's all you need to know

The Delhi Cabinet has approved the proposal to issue the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025 as an ordinance, the Chief Minister’s Office said in a post on X on Tuesday evening. The ordinance was cleared during the Cabinet meeting, attended by ministers Pravesh Sahib Singh, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravindra Indraj Singh, and Kapil Mishra.

"A Cabinet meeting was held today at the Delhi Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mrs. Rekha Gupta. The Cabinet approved the proposal to issue the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025 in the form of an ordinance. The Chief Minister stated that this would put a stop to arbitrary fee hikes by schools in Delhi, provide relief to parents, and ensure transparency and accountability in the education system),” the post said.

Following Cabinet approval, the ordinance will be sent to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena for assent. Once approved, it will come into immediate effect and remain in force until the bill is formally passed in the Delhi Assembly.

What is the ordinance about?

The ordinance prohibits schools from penalising students over non-payment of fees. This includes removing them from rolls, denying access to classes, withholding exam results, or publicly humiliating them—practices that parent groups say have caused emotional distress in recent months.

It lays out a structured, first-of-its-kind three-tier regulatory mechanism for fee oversight in Delhi, starting with school-level fee regulation committees, followed by district-level appellate bodies, and culminating in a state-level revision committee.

This framework aims to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in how private schools set fees and resolve disputes.

The ordinance is expected to benefit students and parents across over a thousand private schools in Delhi, bringing much-needed regulation to an area long plagued by complaints of arbitrary hikes and lack of clarity.

The BJP-led government had originally planned to table the bill during the Delhi Assembly’s budget session on May 13–14, but the session was deferred.

What has been the turn of events?

The move comes amid an uproar of protests from parents for unauthorised fee hikes by private schools. The decision to approve the bill as ordinance follows an April 29 meeting where the government cleared the draft bill. On April 16, the Delhi government had issued show-cause notices to 10 schools for fee hikes and failing to submit audit reports, according to mint.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had also sought a response in late May from Delhi's Directorate of Education over a plea challenging a High Court order that allowed private schools on government land to raise fees without DOE approval. The plea alleges hikes of up to 100% and punitive actions against students.

In one case, Delhi Public School Dwarka expelled over 30 students for not paying increased fees. The incident had sparked protests from parents outside the school gates on May 14. After public outrage and legal pressure, the school withdrew the expulsion on June 5.