Delhi government defers private school fee law to 2026-27 session
What's the story
The Delhi government has informed the Supreme Court that the implementation of a law regulating private school fees will start from the 2026-27 academic session, according to a report by Hindustan Times. The decision comes after the court granted an extension to decide on deferring its implementation for the 2025-26 academic year. Earlier, on January 19, the Supreme Court had asked if it was possible to defer the enforcement of this law till April 2026.
Legal dispute
Legal tussle over fee regulation
The decision to delay the implementation of the law comes amid a legal tussle. Private school associations have challenged the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, in the Delhi High Court. The court has been hearing petitions against this legislation, which aims to regulate fees charged by private schools. Media reports state that private schools in Delhi had hiked fees by as much as 30-45% for the 2025-26 academic year.
Implementation advance
Controversy surrounding the law's implementation
In December 2025, the Delhi government issued a circular advancing the implementation of this law for the 2025-26 academic year. This decision was also opposed by schools at that time. According to The Hindu, the bench headed by Justice PS Narasimha reacted to the submission made by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, for the Director of Education, Delhi government, saying, "it seems better sense has prevailed finally."
Questions
Supreme Court questions 'rushed implementation'
In the previous court hearing, the Bench questioned the "rushed implementation" of the 2025 Act by the government. Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Shyam Divan said the government was still insisting on applying the 2025 Act to the academic year 2025-2026 if it won the pending case in the Delhi High Court. Rohatgi asked how the 2025 Act could be retrospectively implemented on fees fixed under the old Central law.
Impact
Supreme Court states Act is beneficial, implementation unviable
According to Rohatgi, the Act has affected about 1,000 schools and lakhs of school children in the national capital. Earlier, the Supreme Court observed that the objectives of the 2025 Act were beneficial, but did fault the knee-jerk implementation at the fag end of the current academic year. "We are completely in favour of the legislation, but its present form of implementation is unviable... You are forcing people overnight to get up and do it," the court had observed.
Act
What 2025 Act states
The new law by the state government mandates that before private schools increase fees, they must be cleared through a two-tier regulatory framework comprising school-level committees and district-level appellate authorities. Under this framework, every private school must establish a School Level Fee Regulation Committee (SLFRC), which must include representatives from the school management, the principal, three teachers, five parents, and one nominee from the Directorate of Education.