DFRCs revived, appeal body reconstituted
2 min readMumbaiApr 15, 2026 12:53 PM IST
The Maharashtra school education department has revived the long-defunct Divisional Fee Regulatory Committees (DFRCs) and reconstituted an appellate Revision Committee, restoring a formal grievance redressal mechanism for parents.
A government gazette notification issued on March 18 announced the constitution of four DFRCs for Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar divisions. The panels, chaired by retired district judges, will have the respective divisional deputy directors of education as ex-officio member-secretaries. The newly reconstituted Revision Committee will act as the appellate authority in fee-related disputes.
The DFRCs, mandated under the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act, 2011, are empowered to adjudicate complaints of unreasonable fee hikes by schools. As per existing rules, complaints can be filed when at least 25 per cent of a school’s parents raise objections to the fee structure. A senior official said details of the committees and the process to approach them will soon be made public to improve awareness among parents.
Anubha Sahai of the India Wide Parents Association, also a lawyer, said, “State’s responsibility does not end at constituting the DFRC if they are going to remain non-functional. We have been opposing the clause that demands at least 25 per cent of total parents to complain against fee-hikes in a school. Small groups of parents, if not one parent; should also be allowed to submit fee-complaints to DFRC.”
