UNAIDED PRIVATE SCHOOLS (REGULATION OF COLLECTION OF FEES) DRAFT BILL 2021

An Act to provide for the regulation of collection of fees by unaided private schools and Matters connected therewith and incidental thereto

Be it enacted by the Parliament in the Seventy-one Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

• This Act may be called the Unaided Private Schools (Regulation of 'collection of Fee) Act, 2021.
• It extends to the whole of the India.
• It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint.

1. 
   
   1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,
      • "Academic year" means the year commencing on the first day of April to the last day of March;
      • "Aided school" means a school receiving any sum of money as aid out of the State funds;
      • "Appropriate Government" means in relation to an unaided private school established within the territory of
        • A State, State Government;
        • A Union territory having legislature, the Government of that Union territory;
      • "Committee" means the committee constituted under Section 4;
      • "District Committee" means the committee constituted under Section 10;
      • "Fee" means any amount, by whatever name called, collected directly or indirectly by a school from a pupil for any standard or course of study;
      • "Government School" means a school run by the Government or any local authority;
      • "Management" includes the managing committee or any person, body of persons, committee or any other governing body by whatever name called in whom the power to manage or administer the affairs of an unaided private school is vested;
      • "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
      • "Unaided private school" means any play school, pre-primary school, primary school, middle school, secondary school or Senior Secondary School, established and administered or maintained by any person or body of persons and recognized or approved by the competent authority under any law or code of regulation for the time being in force, but does not include,
        • An aided school;
        • A school established and administered or maintained by the Central Government or the State Government or any local authority;
        • A school giving, providing or imparting religious instruction alone but not any other instructions;

1. 1
   
   • Play school includes any school catering to pupils below three years of age;
   • Pre-primary school shall consist of Pre-school to Pre-primary;
   • Primary school shall consist of Pre-school to Standard V or Standards I toV;
   • Middle school shall consist of Pre-school to Standard VIII, Standards I to VIII or Standards VI to VIII;
   • Secondary school shall consist of Pre-school to Standard X, Standards VI to X or Standards IX and X;
2. 2
   
   1. An aided school conducting any classes or courses, for which no money is paid as aid out of the State funds, shall be construed as an unaided private school in so far as such classes or courses are concerned.
3. 3
   
   1. No fee in excess of the fee determined by the committee under this Act shall be collected from pupils for any Standard orcourse of study in an unaided private school, -
      • By any person who is in charge of, or is responsible for, the management of such unaided private school
      • By any other person either for himself or on behalf of such unaided private school or on behalf of the management of such unaided private school.
   2. The fee collected by an unaided private school shall commensurate with the facilities provided by the school.
4. 4
   
   1. The Appropriate Government shall constitute a committee for the purpose ofdetermination of the fee for any Standard or course of study in unaided private schools.
   2. The committee shall consist of the following members, namely:-
      • A retired High Court Judge, nominatedby the Appropriate Government- Chairperson
      • Director of Education or its nominee- Member
      • Chartered Accountant- Member
   3. The term of office of the Chairperson shall be for a period of three years from the date of his nomination and in the case of vacancy arising earlier, for any reason, such vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the term.
   4. The Chairperson shall be eligible to draw such rate of sitting fee and travelling allowance as may be prescribed.
   5. No act or proceeding of the committee shall be invalid by reason only of the existence of any vacancy in, or any defect in, the constitution of the committee.
   6. The Chairperson shall preside over the meeting of the committee.

1. 5
   
   1. The committee shall determine the fee leviable by an unaided private school taking into account the following factors, namely:-
      • the location of the unaided private school;
      • available surplus
      • the available infrastructure;
      • the reasonable surplus required for the growth and development of an unaided private school;
      • the expenditure on administration and maintenance-,
      • Any other factors as may be prescribed.
   2. The committee shall, on determining the fee leviable by an unaided private school, communicate its decision to the school concerned.
   3. Any unaided private school aggrieved over the decision of the committee shall file its objection before the committee within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the decision of the committee.
   4. The committee shall consider the objection of the unaided private school and pass orders within thirty days from the date of receipt of such objection.
   5. The orders passed by the committee shall be final and binding on the unaided private school for three academic years. At the end of the said period, the unaided private school would be at liberty to apply for revision; Provided that in case of urgent need to increase the fee arising due to some unavoidable causes during the three academic years, the school would be at liberty to apply for revision before the expiry of the three years period.
   6. The committee shall indicate the different heads under which the fee shall be levied.

1. 6
   
   1. The powers and functions of the committee shall be, -
      • To determine the fee to be collected by unaided private schools;
      • To hear complaints with regard to collection of fee in excess of the fee determined by it.
      • If the committee, after obtaining the evidence and explanation from theManagement of the unaided private school, comes to the conclusion that the unaided private school has collected fee in excess of the fee determined by the committee, it shall direct the concerned unaided private school to refund the excess amount charged with 9% p.a. interest thereupon within one month. The Committee shall also recommend to the appropriate competent authority for the cancellation of the recognition or approval, as the case may be, of the unaided private school and to the concerned Board of Examination for disaffiliation of the unaided private school or for any other course of action as it deems fit in respect of the unaided private school.
   2. The committee shall have power to,-
      • Require each unaided private school to place before the committee the proposed fee structure of such school with all relevant documents and books of accounts for scrutiny within such date as may be specified by the Committee;
      • Verify whether the fee proposed by the unaided private school is justified and it does not amount to profiteering or charging exorbitant fee;
      • Approve the fee structure or determine some other fee which can be charged by the unaided private school.
   3. The committee shall have the power to regulate its own procedure in all matters arising out of the discharge of its functions, and shall, for the purpose of making any inquiry under this Act, have all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 while trying a suit, in respect of the following matters, namely: -
      • Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;
      • The discovery and production of any document;
      • The receipt of evidence on affidavits;
      • The issuing of any commission for the examination of witness.

1. 7
   
   1. The Appropriate Government may regulate the maintenance of accounts by the unaidedprivate schools in such manner as may be prescribed.

1. 8
   
   1. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, the Appropriate Government shall have thepowers to regulate or fix the fee structure of an unaided private school during pandemic or in anunforeseen situations or circumstances.

1. 9
   
   1. The accounts and other records maintained by an unaided private school shall besubject to examination by auditors and inspecting officers authorized by the appropriate government and also by officers authorized by the comptroller and Auditor General of India.

1. 10
   
   • Whoever contravenes the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder shall, on conviction, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and with fine which may extend to one lac rupees:
     Provided that the court may, for any adequate and special reason to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than three years.
   • The person convicted under this section shall refund to the pupil from whom the excess fee was collected in contravention of this Act, such excess fee.

1. 11
   
   1. Where an offence against any of the provisions of this Act have been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
      Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he has exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission ofSuch offence. Not with standing anything contained in sub-section (1), where any such offence has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, Manager, secretary or other officer shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
   2. Explanation. -For the purposes of this section, -
      • Company means anybody corporate and includes a trust, a firm, a society or other association of individuals,
      • Director in relation to-
        • A firm, means a partner in the firm:
        • A society, a trust or other association of individuals, means the person who is entrusted under the rules of the society, trust or other association with the management of the affairs of the society, trust or other association, as the case may be.

1. 12
   
   1. There shall be a District Committee in every district, which shall consist of the DeputyDirector of Education as Chairperson and such other members as may be prescribed.
   2. The District Committee or any member of the said committee authorized by it in this behalf may, at any time, during the normal working hours of any unaided private school, enter such unaided private school or any premises thereof or any premises belonging to the management of such unaided private school if it or he has reason to believe that there is or has been any contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder and search and inspect any record, accounts, register or other document belonging to such unaided private school or of the management, in so far as any such record, accounts, register or other document relates to such unaided private school and seize any such record, accounts, register or other document for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is or has been any such contravention.
   3. The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 relating to search and seizure shall apply, so far as may be, to search and seizure under sub-section (2).

1. 13
   
   • There shall not be less than fifty percent representatives of parents in management of an unaided private school;
   • The manner of selection of parent representatives shall be determined as may be prescribed.

1. 14
   
   1. No unaided private school shall take voluntary or involuntary donation linked withadmission of a pupil.

1. 15
   
   1. No court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act except with the sanction of the Government or such officer as the Appropriate Government may authorize inThis behalf.

1. 16
   
   1. Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other law for the time being in force.

1. 17
   
   1. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall be instituted against the committee or its members,Government or any officer, authority or person empowered to exercise the powers or perform the functions by or under this Act forAnything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

1. 18
   
   1. If any difficulty arises as to the first constitution of the committee after the date ofcommencement of this Act or otherwise in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Appropriate Government may, by notification, make such provision, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as may appear to them to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty Provided that no such notification shall be issued after the expiry of five years from the date of commencement of this Act.

1. 19
   
   1. The Appropriate Government may make rules for carrying out all or any of the purposes of this Act.
   2. Every rule made or notification issued under this Act shall, as soon as possible after it is made or issued, be placed on the Table of the Legislative Assembly and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so placed or the next session, the Assembly makes any modification in any such rule or notification, or the Assembly decides that the rule or notification should not be made or issued, the rule or notification shall, thereafter, have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or notification.