New Delhi: In a major relief to parents and students across the capital, the Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved The Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Ordinance, 2025, aimed at curbing arbitrary fee hikes in private schools. The decision was taken during the 8th Cabinet Meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta at the Delhi Secretariat.
Announcing the move at a press conference after the meeting, Education Minister Ashish Sood hailed the ordinance as a “historic” step towards safeguarding the interests of families whose children study in private institutions. He said, “This ordinance will secure the future of children studying in private schools and provide relief to the hardworking parents. It is a major move toward ending their financial exploitation once and for all.” The ordinance will be sent to the Lieutenant Governor for onward transmission to the President of India. Upon receiving presidential assent, it will come into effect retrospectively from April 1, 2025. This backdated implementation aims to compensate parents who have already been burdened by fee hikes in the current academic year.
“Once enacted, this law will restrain private schools from arbitrarily increasing fees and offer much-needed relief to parents,” said Sood. He further clarified that the ordinance is aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” and embodies the principle of transparent and dignified governance.
Calling out previous administrations, Sood accused them of ignoring the repeated pleas of Delhi’s parents. “During the tenure of previous governments, particularly the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), parents of children studying in private schools were repeatedly subjected to financial exploitation. Today, the BJP government in Delhi has taken a landmark decision to end this longstanding injustice,” he said.
According to the education department, the ordinance is expected to bring regulatory oversight to 1,677 private schools operating in the national capital. It will introduce clear mechanisms for how fees can be determined, under what conditions they can be revised, and how grievances regarding fee structures can be addressed.
The Cabinet’s decision marks the first major legislative intervention in Delhi’s education sector by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government since it assumed power earlier this year. “After nearly 27 years, the BJP-led government in Delhi has taken its first major step toward enacting a law in the important and sensitive domain of education,” said Sood.
Highlighting the broader vision of the government, he added, “In the last 100 days, every cabinet meeting under CM Rekha Gupta’s leadership has taken significant decisions in the public interest. Among them, today’s decision stands out as a major step towards ending exploitative fee collection practices by private schools.”