Pune: The Bombay High Court recently addressed a petition filed by the parents of students at Dhruv Global School, challenging a fee hike for the academic year 2025-26. The court issued a notice to the school management, directing them to provide documents and records related to the decision made by the Executive Parents Teachers Association (EPTA) regarding the fee fixation. The school was absent during the hearing, and the case has been scheduled for further hearing on April 15.
The petition was filed by around 89 parents who have raised concerns over the school’s fee structure and its potential violation of state regulations. The parents also requested the court to direct the state government to establish a Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee (DFRC), as required under the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Act of 2011, to address disputes over school fees.
The DFRC is designed to mediate disputes between school managements and parents concerning fee-related issues. It serves as a regulatory body to ensure that schools adopt fair and reasonable fee structures and to adjudicate appeals related to fee hikes.
According to the parents, they were informed of the approved fee structure for the 2025-2026 academic year through an email and an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system notification on September 6, 2024. This communication came after a meeting of the Executive Parents Teachers Association on August 31, 2024, during which the new fee structure was approved.
The parents allege that Dhruv Global School implemented an unlawful 15 percent fee hike whenever students transition to a new grade band every two years. They claim that the fee increase was applied not only to newly admitted students but also to those already enrolled, without any justification for the additional charges. Despite the school’s claims of compliance with legal requirements, the parents argue that the fee hike is excessive and constitutes a deliberate attempt to circumvent statutory limits.
The fee structure is said to already include the 15 percent increase every two years, making the repeated hikes unjustifiable. The parents further state that the school’s fee policy mandates that they pay fees starting from March 1 each year, even though the academic year begins on April 1. Additionally, the school imposes a late fee charge of Rs. 10 per day for the first 15 days, which increases to Rs. 100 per day after that.
A parent involved in the case argued that the school’s actions violate Section 3 of the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Act 2011, accusing the institution of commercializing education and creating undue financial strain on families.
After sending a legal notice to the school, the concerned parents sought assistance from the Deputy Director of Education in Pune. They discovered that the DFRC in the Pune region was not operational, as the term of the previously elected committee had expired in June 2024. The DFRC had last been constituted in June 2021, but since its tenure expired, no new committee has been formed, and the state government has not issued any official notification to reconstitute the body.
The parents filed an RTI application seeking clarification but received no useful information. Subsequently, the parents appealed to the committee, but their concerns remained unresolved, prompting them to file a writ petition to compel the formation of a new DFRC.
