Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): More than a week after expiry of deadline, not a single private school in Madhya Pradesh has uploaded its fee structure on designated portal of Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI).
Under Madhya Pradesh NijiVidyalaya (Fees Tatha Sambandhit Vishayon Ka Viniyaman) Act, 2017, all private schools are required to upload fee structure 90 days before beginning of academic session. With 2026–27 session set to start from April 1, 2026, schools were required to upload fee details along with audited accounts of past three years on DPI portal (dpimp.in) by January 1. The portal was opened for uploading on October 1, 2025.
Fee Regulation Act was promulgated by state government to rein in private schools that used to arbitrarily increase fees every year and fleece parents for huge profits. Act mandates disclosure of class-wise fees with detailed break-up, including tuition fee, laboratory fee, transport fee and other charges. Schools are also required to declare hike effected in fees compared to previous academic year.
Provisions apply to all private schools from primary to higher secondary level, irrespective of affiliation with MPBSE, CBSE, ICSE or any other examination board.
In last academic session, only 10,333 of total 34,806 private schools in state had uploaded fee details on portal. Schools failing to comply are liable to pay a penalty amounting to five times portal fee, ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 depending on student strength, along with fine. However, no school was penalised for delay.
Last year, state government exempted schools with annual fees below Rs 25,000 from provisions of Act. Such schools were required to upload affidavits declaring eligibility for exemption by August 8, 2025.
Prabodh Pandya, General Secretary, MP Paalak Mahsangh said, "Private schools are openly flouting an Act of the state government and no action is being taken against them. The government should take tough action against them."
NK Ahirwar, DEO, Bhopal said, "We will be issuing letters to private schools in the district, which number around 2,000. The file is pending with the collector’s office."
