Delhi govt puts landmark private school fee act on hold for current year, freezes existing charges

• Delhi defers private school fee regulation law for 2025-26 academic year
• School fees frozen at April 1, 2025 levels; no hikes allowed this session
• Private schools must form fee committees within 10 days of February 1 order

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In a significant development affecting thousands of families, the Delhi government has formally deferred the implementation of its flagship private school fee regulation law for the current academic year. The decision, following scrutiny from the Supreme Court, provides immediate clarity to schools and parents while outlining a fresh roadmap for the regime’s future rollout.

The government informed a Supreme Court bench on Monday that the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, would not be enforced for the 2025-26 session. This submission came alongside a gazette notification issued on February 1, titled the ‘Delhi School Education (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2026’.

The notification effectively freezes school fees at their April 1, 2025, levels for the remainder of the academic year. It stipulates that no school shall charge any amount over and above what was being charged from that date. Furthermore, it states that any fee hike already imposed for 2025-26 deemed "exorbitant" would still be subject to future regulation and legal outcomes.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, had previously expressed concern over the "hurry" in implementing the law mid-session, terming it "unviable."

The court had been hearing appeals from private schools challenging a Delhi High Court order that had refused to stay the Act and a subsequent government circular mandating its immediate enforcement. With the government's latest clarification, the bench noted no further orders were required and closed the schools' appeals.

According to the government’s notification, the deferral was necessitated by a procedural impasse. The Act, notified on December 10, 2025, had required schools to constitute School-Level Fee Regulation Committees (SLFRCs) by the previous July 15 — a deadline impossible to meet for the ongoing session. The ‘Removal of Difficulties’ order is framed as a measure to address this timing mismatch.

Despite the pause, the government emphasised that the law itself remains intact. Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood stated that the order was "most beneficial for parents," as it fast-tracks the formation of committees to safeguard parental interests in future years. He asserted that the chief minister’s vision ensured no school could make unilateral fee decisions without forming these committees.

The notification lays out a revised transition timeline. Private schools must now constitute their SLFRCs within ten days of the February 1 order. Managements then have 14 days to submit proposed fee structures for the next block of three academic years, starting from 2026-27. Concurrently, the government has 30 days to establish district-level fee appellate committees for grievance redressal.

Crucially, the order also mandates that once a three-year fee block concludes, schools cannot raise fees beyond the last approved level until the next block is formally ratified. Any fees collected in this interim period must be adjusted against the newly approved structure.

Parents’ groups, while acknowledging the removed uncertainty, continue to press for broader accountability. Aprajita Gautam, president of the Delhi Parents’ Association, reportedly called for financial audits of schools on Delhi Development Authority land and for fee structures from recent years to be made public.

Some parents have also raised concerns about transparency in forming the SLFRCs, with one parent of a student at ITL Public School alleging that active parental involvement was being discouraged.

Education activist Shikha Sharma Bagga highlighted the need for immediate parental safeguards during the transition, particularly regarding the withholding of admit cards, a common point of contention.