Delhi HC extends deadline for schools to form fee regulation panels

The Delhi High Court on Monday extended till February 20 the February 10 deadline set by the Delhi government for private schools to constitute school-level fee regulation committees (SLFRC).

Under provisions of the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025 — a law passed by the Assembly in August last year after citywide protests against unregulated fee hikes — every private school in the city is required to form an SLFRC comprising representatives of the school management, the principal, three teachers, five parents, and one government nominee.

The law requires that any fee increase be approved through a two-tier regulatory framework comprising school-level panels and district-level appellate authorities.

A Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued a notice to the government on pleas by private schools challenging the February 1 notification directing the setting up of committees within 10 days.

The court said that “no prejudice is going to be caused to either side or to the timeline (to fix fees for the academic sessions starting from 2026-2027)”.

“Accordingly, we provide that till the next date of listing of the application for stay, i.e. February 20, those schools that have not constituted the SLFRC shall not be insisted upon to form it,” it said.

Feb. 1 notification

On February 1, the government issued a gazette notification stating that the formation of the SLFRCs for the ongoing session, which ends in March, was not possible before the stipulated date because the Act was brought into force in December last year. It directed private schools to constitute SLFRCs within 10 days and submit details of the proposed fee structure for the next three academic sessions starting with 2026-27 within 14 days of forming the panels.

The SLFRCs would then fix the fees according to the provisions of the Act.