Delhi High Court extends deadline for private 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 the school-level fee regulation committee (SLFRC), providing interim relief to schools that have challenged the requirement.

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued notice to the Delhi government on pleas filed by several school associations against the February 1 notification mandating the formation of the committee within 10 days. The court said no prejudice would be caused if the formation of the SLFRC was deferred until the next date of hearing.

The bench observed that if the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi does not insist on the constitution of the SLFRC, no prejudice would be caused to either side or to the timeline for fixation of fees for the academic sessions 2026–2027. It directed that till February 20, schools that have not constituted the SLFRC shall not be compelled to do so.

Fee regulation notification challenged

The February 1 gazette notification was issued by the Delhi government to smoothen the implementation of the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act after the Supreme Court raised questions over the new fee fixation law. The notification directed every private school to constitute an SLFRC within 10 days of its publication.

It further stated that school managements must submit details of the proposed fee structure for the next block of three academic years starting from 2026–27 within 14 days of forming the SLFRC, after which the committee would proceed to fix fees under the provisions of the Act.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Delhi government, argued that deferring the deadline beyond February 10 would disrupt the timeline for determining school fees by March 27 for the upcoming academic year. He said that after constitution of the committee by February 10, schools were required to share proposed fee details by February 25 and the appellate committee was to be constituted by March 3.

Raju also submitted that on January 8, while dealing with petitions challenging the new fee regulation law, the deadline had already been extended till January 20 and no further extension could be sought. The bench, however, noted that the earlier extension was granted before the February 1 notification and that circumstances had since changed.

The court was hearing petitions filed by the Forum of Minority Schools, the Forum for Promotion of Quality Education For All, and the Action Committee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools, all of which challenged the February 1 notification.

In its petition, the Forum of Minority Schools contended that under the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, the SLFRC is required to be constituted on or before July 15 of each academic year. It argued that advancing this deadline would require a legislative amendment and that the notification was arbitrary and without authority of law.

Under the new framework, every private school is required to constitute an SLFRC comprising representatives of the school management, the principal, three teachers, five parents and one nominee from the Department of Education. Members are to be selected through a lottery system in the presence of observers to ensure transparency.

Petitions filed by several private schools challenging the new fee regulation law are also pending before the Delhi High Court.

(With inputs from PTI)