HC lets colleges to collect fee directly from students

Hyderabad: Telangana high court has permitted colleges to collect tuition fees directly from students from the 2026-27 academic year, granting interim relief to petitioner-institutions facing severe financial strain due to pending govt reimbursements. On Thursday, 14 colleges, who filed several writ petitions, got relief from the court.Justice Juvvadi Sridevi passed the interim orders on Thursday while hearing a batch of petitions filed by private colleges. The directions apply to students from SC, ST, economically backward classes, BC, minority and other categories covered under the state's fee reimbursement scheme, without reference to existing govt orders (GOs) that bar collection of fees from such students. Accordingly, the court suspended the restrictive provisions in the existing GOs and allowed 14 colleges to collect fees from all categories of students to prevent financial distress. More colleges in the state are planning to implead in the hope of getting relief. The petitioners submitted that the state had failed to clear dues of around 1,500 crore under various scholarship schemes, leaving institutions struggling to meet basic expenses. They argued that while GOs prohibit fee collection from eligible students, reimbursements have not been released for years. Their counsel stated even where payment tokens had been generated, funds were not disbursed, affecting day-to-day operations, including payment of staff salaries and administrative costs. During the hearing, the special govt pleader acknowledged that the dues were payable but cited the budget session as the reason for the delay and the absence of a clear timeline for release of funds. The court noted that despite repeated adjournments, the state had neither filed counter-affidavits nor clarified its position on clearing arrears. It observed that the prolonged delay had adversely affected functioning of educational institutions and warranted interim intervention. The court clarified that if the pleas are dismissed, institutions must refund collected fees to students. The matter has been posted to April 30, with directions to the state to place its stand on record.