Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, announced that no private school in Punjab will be allowed to raise its annual fees by more than 5%, and that institutions which have hiked fees beyond 15% over the last three years must refund the excess amount to parents. The Chief Minister said an ordinance will soon be promulgated to give the cap statutory force, describing it as the strictest such rule in the country.

Context

In his post on X, Mann said the decision came after a tragic incident in Amritsar and a surge of complaints from parents. 'In the last 24 hours, I have received hundreds of calls from parents about arbitrary fee hikes by private schools,' he wrote, adding that 'tuhadi sarkar' (your government) had taken a 'very strict and important decision'.

The Chief Minister stressed that the 5% ceiling will not be limited to tuition fees alone. 'All other mandatory funds charged by schools will also be included within this 5% limit,' he said, signalling that admission charges, building funds and similar levies will fall under the cap.

Mann framed the move in sharp terms, saying that 'loot in the name of education in Punjab will no longer be tolerated at all' and that no school will be granted an exemption from the new rule.

Policy backdrop

Since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in Punjab in March 2022, the state government has positioned education as a flagship area, pushing teacher recruitment drives and infrastructure upgrades in government schools. The proposed fee-cap ordinance extends that focus into the private school segment, where parents have long flagged opaque annual increases.

Several Indian states have in recent years legislated or tightened private school fee regulation, with caps typically ranging between 5% and 10%. Punjab's design is notable for two features: a hard ceiling at the lower end of that range, and an explicit refund mechanism for hikes already levied above the 15% three-year threshold.

By bringing all mandatory charges within the cap, the ordinance also aims to close a common workaround in which schools keep tuition increases modest but raise auxiliary heads steeply.

Stakeholders and impact

For parents, the immediate question will be how refunds are calculated and disbursed for the last three academic cycles. The Chief Minister said the excess amount must be returned turant (immediately), but operational details, including a grievance mechanism, will depend on the text of the ordinance.

For private school managements, the policy tightens both pricing freedom and back-book exposure. Schools that have stayed within or close to the 15% three-year band face only a forward-looking cap, while those with steeper hikes face refund liabilities that could be material.

The announcement also sets up a political contrast. Mann is positioning his administration as siding with middle-class parents against fee escalation, a theme that resonates beyond Punjab as similar debates play out in other states.

What's next

The key milestone will be the promulgation of the ordinance and the rules framed under it, including the formula for computing refunds and the enforcement authority within the Punjab education department. Compliance reporting requirements and penalty provisions will determine how durable the cap proves in practice.

Legal challenges from private school associations are a realistic possibility, given the retrospective refund element and the inclusion of non-tuition charges under the ceiling. How courts weigh parental protection against the operational autonomy of private institutions will shape the precedent value of Punjab's model for other states considering similar caps.