In the past two years, six private schools in Gujarat were fined up to 2.5 lakh for charging higher fees than allowed by the Fee Regulatory Committee. Shri PV Modi High School in Jamnagar received the highest fine.
This year, 15% of schools applied to increase their fees, up from 10% in 2024. The state government fined several schools for overcharging. Shri PV Modi High School in Jamnagar received the highest fine of ₹2.5 lakh. Vibgyor High in Vadodara was fined ₹2 lakh, while Shri Vivekanand School in Amreli and Hanumant School in Bhavnagar were fined ₹50,000 each. In Ahmedabad, both Gujarati and English branches of Vidyanagar Primary and High School were fined ₹70,000 each over the past two years.
However, as per the data maintained by the state government and tabled in the Legislative Assembly’s budget session that concluded last month, complaints against 19 self-financed schools for charging higher fees were received by the FRC in 2023-24.
According to the media report,”All these complaints were resolved by the zonal FRCs. From February 2024 till January 31, 2025, another 16 complaints against private schools for charging higher fees were received. Among these, 13 have been resolved with a few schools being fined while documents submitted by others against the fee were found valid. The remaining three complaints are under investigation”.
As per the Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act 2017, no self-financed school can collect any fee in excess of what has been fixed by the FRC for admission of students to any standard or course of study in that school. The private schools can be penalised up to Rs 5 lakh for the first contravention.
The rules stipulate that while for a hike in the school fee, a private school is required to apply to the FRC in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the rules within the prescribed time limit, schools charging fees lower than what is prescribed by the state government have to only file an affidavit to the panel.
Pre-primary and primary schools with fees up to Rs 15,000 per annul will be exempted from applying to the FRC. For secondary and higher secondary schools offering general stream, the exemption limit is Rs 25,000, while for higher secondary schools with science stream, it is Rs 30,000 per annul.
As on January 31, 2025, Gujarat has 13,163 registered private schools. Divided into four zones- Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, and Rajkot – a majority of them (12,681) are affiliated to the state board, followed by 443 affiliated to CBSE, 28 to ICSE, and 11 to the international boards.
Government records show that in 2025, only 1,914 private schools applied to the FRC for a fee hike. Of these, fees were approved for 1,577 schools, while 337 cases are still pending. Another 11,249 schools submitted affidavits saying their fees are within the exemption limit. Out of these, 8,007 charge less than ₹15,000 per year, 2,760 charge under ₹25,000, and 482 schools fall within the ₹30,000 limit.
Taking into consideration the data of the last two years, out of the total private schools in Gujarat, while only 10 per cent of the schools have applied for a higher fee in 2024, this increased to 15 per cent in 2025.
Each zonal FRC is led by a retired judge or senior government official. Other members include a chartered accountant, a civil engineer or valuer, a school management representative, and a reputed academician all nominated by the government.