NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented development, more than 150 private schools have started the process of refunding excess fees, including around 70 schools that have submitted the respective amounts to the high court.
But certain big schools like
DPS Mathura Road
and Springdales Pusa Road have approached the court separately over the issue and are waiting for its decision before making any payments.
According to lawyers involved in the case, while a concrete number cannot be given to the number of schools that have started making refunds, around 70 schools have made the payment to the court and the rest have started the process of issuing cheques to parents.
Delhi government had served a show-cause notice to 449 schools on Monday , giving them two weeks to refund excess fees charged by them.
This was suggested by the Justice Anil Dev Committee.The government, in the notice, had threatened to take over the management of the schools in case they failed to pay the amount due to parents.
Schools like
Oxford Public School
in Nehru Nagar and Smt Misri Devi Gyan Niketan School in Deenpur have already invited parents to submit their bank details to facilitate the transfer of funds. Cheques have also started arriving to parents from Modern School, Vasant Vihar.
The schools that have started making the payment to the court include
DPS
Vasant Kunj, DPS Dwarka, KR Mangalam World School, Summerfields School, Sanskriti School, among the 70-odd. However, DPS Mathura Road, one of the schools served the show-cause notice, is waiting for the decision in the high court. "There is a PIL that we have filed in court and are waiting for a decision. We have the amount ready with us. The hearing is next month, and action will be taken on the direction of the court," said principal Manohar Lal.
"The frequency with which these schools are processing the refund is encouraging. But the exact number of schools cannot be ascertained because many are sending cheques to parents directly ," said
Khagesh Jha
, an advocate involved in the case.
The government too is tight-lipped on the number, though officials too said the process of refund has started.