New Delhi, June 11 -- The Delhi cabinet led by chief minister Rekha Gupta has approved an ordinance to regulate fees charged by private unaided schools, city education minister Ashish Sood announced on Tuesday, marking a significant government intervention in an ongoing feud between a string of institutions and parents groups. Sood said the government approved the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Ordinance, 2025, based on the proposed Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025, which envisages a three-tier fee regulation structure involving committees at the school, district, and state levels, which will institutionalise parental participation in the process. "The new ordinance will bring relief to the parents and end discrimination faced by the students. This ordinance will take the form of a law soon," Sood said. However, the ordinance will still need to be tabled before the legislative assembly within six weeks of being notified, to be passed as an Act. The ordinance stands invalid if it is not approved by the Delhi assembly within the six-week period. Officials said that since assembly is currently not in session, the government decided to bring an ordinance, instead of tabling a bill. The move comes amid a swirling controversy and widespread protests by parents over steep and unregulated fee hikes in some Delhi schools such as Delhi Public School, Dwarka, and Srijan School, Model Town. The Directorate of Education (DoE) launched proceedings on April 16 against several unaided private schools, with de-recognition and even takeover under consideration in some cases. Nitin Gupta, whose child is a student at Srijan School Model Town, said that many questions continue to be unanswered for parents. "The copy of the ordinance has not been shared. Moreover, we also do not know if the schools will refund the excessive money paid as fees during the previous years," Gupta said. On April 29, the Delhi Cabinet had approved the draft Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025 with Gupta calling it a "bold and historic". Currently, fees charged by private unaided institutions in Delhi are regulated by the Delhi School Education Act and Rules (DSEAR), 1973, according to which every recognised private school must submit a full statement of the fees chargeable for a given academic session to the DoE before beginning of the session and no school can charge more than the approved amount. The DSEAR does not clearly define how private school fees could be regulated. "That law only required schools to notify fee increases, with no clarity on process, timing, or oversight. This bill fixes that gap," Gupta had said in April. Speaking to HT on Tuesday, Sood said that the new ordinance will be in harmony with the existing law. "The new ordinance deals with many issues in detail, including the issue of bringing fee transparency in schools at length. Both the acts will remain in force to deal with the issues accordingly," he said. Education activist Ashok Agrawal said that the new ordinance will act as a supplementary-complementary act to DSEAR Act 1973, meaning the two things will work in tandem. "Prima facie it looks like this new ordinance is enacted in conjunction with the DSEAR Act and will serve to clarify, expand, or provide more detailed rules or procedures related to the main law," said Agarwal. He added that this new ordinance is likely to codify the issues related to fee hikes and other school related issues. A DoE official, on the condition of anonymity, said that DSEAR Act has not been disturbed while bringing in the ordinance. "The DSEAR is a central Act so it will remain as is. The fee regulation law will fill the gaps which were not addressed in the existing law," the official said. The ordinance will be applicable to all 1,677 private unaided schools in Delhi and will introduce three major reforms in the city's fee regulation regime. First, it envisages a three-tier fee regulation structure involving committees at the school, district, and state levels, which will institutionalise parental participation in the process. "Each school will now have a School-Level Fee Regulation Committee comprising parents, giving them direct decision-making power. District- and state-level committees will handle appeals and ensure fairness," CM Gupta had said on April 29. A copy of the ordinance is yet to be released. The second major reform introduces stiff penalties for non-compliance. Schools found violating the provisions-such as raising fees without approval-can be fined between Rs.1 lakh and Rs.10 lakh. Repeat offenders could lose government recognition. The third reform spells out the parameters that must be considered while determining fees. These include the school's location, quality of infrastructure, academic performance, and need for funds. The idea is to bring consistency and transparency to what has long been an opaque and disputed area....