Ahmedabad schools fined ₹5 lakh each for failing to apply for pre-primary fee approval

Ahmedabad’s Fee Regulation Committee (FRC) has imposed penalties of ₹5 lakh each on two more private schools – Divine Life School in Naroda and Asian Global School in Chandkheda – for failing to submit mandatory applications for determining pre-primary fees.

According to the committee’s orders, Divine Life School had its primary section fee approved for 2022–23 and 2024–25 back in July 2022.

However, despite running a pre-primary section on the same campus, the school had not filed any application for that segment since 2021–22.

Under Section 6 of the Fee Regulation Act, all schools must apply for fee approval by October 31 every year, and if a school runs pre-primary classes, a separate application for that section is mandatory.

After issuing a notice on July 29 and conducting a personal hearing, the committee found the school’s explanation unacceptable, even though it admitted the lapse, and imposed a ₹5 lakh penalty under Section 14(1) of the Act.

A similar violation was found at Asian Global School. The committee had approved Class 1–8 fees for 2023–24 and 2025–26 in February 2024, but the school had not submitted a proposal for pre-primary fees. Following an August 30 notice and hearing, the school claimed it was unaware that a separate application was required after obtaining CBSE affiliation. The committee rejected the reasoning and imposed a ₹5 lakh fine.

Both schools have been directed to deposit the penalty with the DEO or DPEO within 15 days. The FRC has so far issued penalties of this scale to around five to six schools in Ahmedabad zone for similar violations.