Pune: State Tightens Grip on Private School Fees, Panels Activated Across Maharashtra to Raise Complaints

Pune, 14th April 2026: In a move aimed at checking arbitrary and excessive fee collection by private schools, the state education department has operationalised divisional fee regulatory committees, that will allow parents to formally raise complaints against schools.

As per the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act, 2011, appointments of chairpersons and ex-officio member secretaries for both the state-level revision committee and divisional fee regulatory committees have been notified. With this, parents now have a mechanism to challenge unjustified fee hikes by private and self-financed schools.

Despite the existence of the fee regulation law, many institutions have allegedly continued to impose arbitrary fee increases, often bypassing prescribed norms. Although provisions for divisional committees and revision panels existed, they had remained non-functional for some time, leaving several complaints unresolved.

To address this gap, the school education department has now formally constituted these committees across key regions including Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The revision committee will be headed by former High Court judge M G Gaikwad, while the joint director of secondary and higher secondary education will serve as the ex-officio member secretary.

At the divisional level, the committees will be chaired by retired district judges, with deputy directors of education acting as member secretaries. The appointed chairpersons include S S Gulhane for Pune, M S Gupta for Mumbai, O P Jaiswal for Nagpur, and K R Devsarkar for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

The education department has made it mandatory for all private schools across mediums to display information about the fee regulatory committees and the complaint process on their notice boards or at prominent locations within school premises.

With the admission process for the 2026–27 academic year underway, officials said parents can submit complaints regarding school fees to the respective committees. Dedicated email IDs for lodging complaints will also be made operational, and grievances will be addressed on priority.

Education Commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh said the initiative would ensure timely redressal of complaints and bring greater transparency to the fee structure.