The Delhi High Court on Monday extended the Delhi government’s February 10 deadline for private schools to constitute School-Level Fee Regulation Committees (SLFRCs) by ten more days, granting interim relief in a batch of petitions filed by various school associations.
A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued notice to the Delhi government on the challenges to the February 1 gazette notification mandating the formation of SLFRCs within 10 days of publication. The court fixed February 20 as the next date of hearing and observed that deferring the deadline in the interim would not prejudice either side.
“We find in case the GNCTD does not insist on the formation of the SLFRC, no prejudice is going to be caused to either side or to the timeline (for fixation of fees for academic sessions 2026–2027),” the bench noted.
Accordingly, the court directed:
“Till the next date of listing of the application of stay i.e. February 20, those schools that have not constituted the SLFRC shall not be insisted upon to form it.”
On February 1, the Delhi government issued a gazette notification under the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, directing every private school to set up an SLFRC within 10 days. The notification followed critical observations made by the Supreme Court on Delhi’s new fee regulation regime.
The stated objective of the notification was to “smoothen” implementation of the fee regulation law, which mandates that school managements submit the proposed fee structure for the next three academic years (beginning 2026–27) within 14 days of constituting the SLFRC.
Once constituted, the SLFRC is tasked with examining the proposed fee structure and determining the applicable fees in accordance with statutory norms.
Several associations representing private schools moved the high court, seeking a stay on the notification and challenging the short 10-day deadline as arbitrary and impractical. The court, while agreeing to examine the issue, chose to preserve the status quo temporarily, stating that the deferment would not impact the larger timeline for fee fixation under the law.
The matter will now be heard in detail on February 20.
