Sonepat school ordered to refund excess fee collected from parents

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, January 4

The Fee and Fund Regulatory Committee (FFRC) of Rohtak division has directed a school in Sonepat to refund excess fee collected from students between 2019 to 2022.

School files appeal with Education dept

• Parents had filed a complaint with the FFRC against Gateway International School on December 8, 2021 for charging excess fee from them for 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic sessions
• The parents alleged that the school had charged extra fee and funds not mentioned in the Form-6 provided under the Haryana School Education Rules (HSERs), 2003
• School principal Prem Ojha said they had filed an appeal against the FFRC order with the Director, School Education

Parents had filed a complaint with the FFRC against Gateway International School on December 8, 2021 for charging excess fee from them for 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic sessions. The parents alleged that the school had charged extra fee and funds not mentioned in the Form-6 provided under the Haryana School Education Rules (HSERs), 2003.

Divisional Commissioner-cum-FFRC Chairman Sanjeev Verma, in his orders on December 13, said as per the Rule 158 of the HSERs, the manager of every recognised school is liable to submit details of minimum facilities being provided and the maximum fee charged in the Form-6. The manager is also bound to file the Form-6, before the commencement of each academic session, with the department a full statement of the fees and all types of funds levied by the school during the academic session, the order stated.

No school can charge any fee in excess of the fee specified in the Form-6 and each school has to submit this form duly filled in by January 1 of every year before the appropriate authority, according to the HSERs.

The school management, in a statement, said they took ‘Annual Charges’ in addition to the fee mentioned in Form 6. “The plea taken by the principal, that since no column regarding ‘Annual Charges’ had been provided in the new Form 6, the annual charges could not be mentioned in Form 6, is not tenable,” the FFRC order stated.

“In view of the above facts, the school has taken the charges other than what have been submitted/declared by the school in Form-6 and as such, the school has violated the provisions of rules. Therefore, in view of the provision of Rule 158-A (2)(i) of the above said rules, the management is directed to refund the excess fee/annual charges etc charged in violation of the rules,” the order stated.

Gateway International School principal Prem Ojha said: “No rule has been violated by the school. We filed an appeal against the FFRC order, released on December 13, with the Director, School Education.”