In exercise of the powers
conferred by section 20 of the Gujarat Self financed Schools (Regulation of
Fees) Act, 2017 (Guj. 20 of 2017), the Government of Gujarat hereby makes the
following rules, namely:- (1)
These rules may be called the Gujarat Self financed Schools
(Regulation of Fees) Rules, 2017. (2)
They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the
Official Gazette. (1)
In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a)
"Act" means the Gujarat Self financed Schools
(Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017 (Guj. 20 of 2017); (b)
"commencement" means the date on which these rules come
into force; (c)
"Fee Regulatory Committee" means the Fee Regulatory
Committees constituted under sections 3 of the Act; (d)
"Fee Revision Committee" means the Fee Revision
Committee constituted under section 12 of the Act; (e)
"Form" means the form appended to these rules. (2)
The words and expressions used in these rules but not defined
hereinabove shall have the same meaning as respectively assigned to them in the
Act. (1)
The State Government shall appoint the Chairperson and Members of
the Fee Regulatory Committees and Fee Revision Committee in accordance with the
provisions of section 3 and section 12 of the Act immediately after the
commencement of these rules. (2)
A person who has been nominated as a Chairperson or a Member of
such Committee shall disclose his interests, if any, with affairs of any self
financed school before assuming the office. Such interest, if in conflict with
the functioning of such Committee shall lead to cancellation of his nomination. (3)
(i) A person who has been nominated as a Chairperson or a Member
of such Committee shall maintain utmost confidentiality and secrecy about the
deliberations and discussions having taken place in the meetings and decisions
taken by the Committee. Disclosure of any such matters or decisions in any
manner whatsoever shall make him liable to be removed from such Committee. (ii) The Chairperson or a Member
so removed shall not be eligible for reappointment. (4)
No person who is associated in any manner with the affairs of the
Management of any self financed school shall be eligible for being a Member of
aforesaid Committee(s) except the Member who is nominated by the State
Government under clause (d) of sub-section (4) of section 3 and clause (v) of
sub-section (2) of section 12 of the Act, respectively. (1)
The honorarium and other allowances payable and facilities to be
provided to the Chairperson and Members other than the ex-officio members of
the Fee Regulatory Committees and Fee Revision Committee shall be such as may
be fixed and specified by the State Government by a general or special order
issued in that behalf from time to time. (2)
The term of the Chairperson and Members shall be three years from
the date of their assuming the office. In case of vacancy by any reason
whatsoever, the same shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of the
Act. The term of such member shall be for remainder period of the term of the
Chairperson or a Member, as the case may be, in whose place he has been
appointed. (3)
The Chairperson, or the Member, as the case may be, shall be
eligible for appointment for the period not exceeding two terms. (4)
The Chairperson or Members may resign from the office by giving
one month's notice to the State Government and the resignation shall be
effective on the date of acceptance of the same by the State Government. The
vacancy arisen on account of the resignation shall be filled in as early as
possible from the date of occurrence of the vacancy. (1)
The Chairperson shall preside over the meetings of the Fee
Regulatory Committee. The Committee may adopt its own procedure for transaction
of business as it deems fit. (2)
The date, time and venue of the meeting of the Committee shall be
decided by the Chairperson and the same shall be communicated to the members of
the Committee by the Coordinator of the Committee. (3)
The notice in FORM I, along with the agenda items of the meeting
shall be given to the each member of the Committee at least 7 clear days in
advance by registered post acknowledgement or any other mode including
electronic mode as may be decided by the Committee. The acknowledgement shall
be preserved for one year. (4)
Emergency meeting may be called for by the Chairperson of the Fee
Regulatory Committee with a short notice of 24 hours. (5)
The quorum at the meeting of the Committee shall be atleast
two-third Members of the total strength of the Committee. If there is no quorum
at the meeting, the same shall be adjourned for half an hour. Thereafter the
meeting shall be held for the transaction of its business. (6)
The District Education Officer, or the District Primary Education
officer of the Zonal headquarters, as the case may be, shall be the
Co-ordinator of the Committee who shall act as per the directions of the
Chairperson and shall prepare proceedings of the meeting and circulate the same
to all the Members within seven days from the date of meeting. (7)
All official correspondence relating to administrative nature
shall be issued under the signature of the Co-ordinator. (1)
The Self financed school shall prepare and submit to the Fee
Regulatory Committee, a proposal in FORM II, for fixation of fee or fee
structure, containing the particulars specified in it, for its consideration
and approval not later than the 31st October of the year of the proposal. The
proposal shall also contain the following matters, namely:- (i)
proposal shall be for fixation of fee or fee structure for next
three years; (ii)
audited accounts of the preceding two financial years; (iii)
provisional accounts from 1st April to 31st August of the year in
which proposal is made along with a certificate of Chartered Accountant
containing the income and expenditure specifying under the different heads; (iv)
proposed budget estimates in respect of the year of proposal with
the relevant record and evidence; and (v)
expenditure incurred towards the educational related services
rendered to the students by the affiliated/holding or subsidiary companies
having same or related trustees and directors, directly or indirectly. (2)
In the event of non-submission of proposal within prescribed time
limit or submission of incomplete details for fixation of fee, the Fee
Regulatory Committee shall suo moto determine the fee structure which shall be
binding on such school. The fees structure as determined by the Fee Regulatory
Committee suo moto shall be applicable for the next three academic years. (3)
The self financed school shall pay such amount towards the process
fee, as may be determined by the State Government, along with the proposal. (4)
The self financed school shall be bound to supply any further
information or statements which may be required by the Fee Regulatory Committee
within the time limit specified by the Committee. The Fee Regulatory Committee
shall adopt following procedure for determining fee or fee structure or fee
commensurate with the facilities provided by the self financed school, namely:- (1)
(a) On receiving the proposal from the self financed school in
FORM II, the Fee Regulatory Committee shall scrutinize the proposal in
accordance with the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder. (b) The Committee may call for
any further information or statements as are necessary for scrutiny of the
proposed fee or fee structure from the self financed school within the
specified time limit and may offer hearing to the concerned school. (c) The Committee may authorise
any Member or any officer for spot verification of documents and school
buildings, etc. (2)
The Committee shall not ordinarily grant more than three
adjournments during the course of proceedings. (3)
After considering all the relevant factors as provided in the Act
and the rules, the Fee Regulatory Committee shall take a decision on such proposal
within a period of ninety days from the date of receipt of the proposal. (4)
The Fee Regulatory Committee shall determine the total fees under
a single head which may be levied or collected. The order in FORM III,
determining the total fees shall be operative for a period of three years. (5)
In the event of contravention of the Act or the rules, the Fee
Regulatory Committee shall pass an order of,- (a)
refund of differential amount in case the school has collected
excess fee; and (b)
penalty in case of any contravention of the provisions of the Act
or the rules. (6)
The fee determined by the Fee Regulatory Committee for Pre-Primary
Schools, Primary Schools, Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools shall be
displayed by every such self financed school on its notice board in Gujarati
and English as also on its official website. (7)
No Self Financed School shall collect fee amounting to more than
one quarter from any student at a time and collection of fee for more than one
quarter at a time shall be construed as collection of capitation fee and such
school shall be liable to be proceeded against in accordance with the
provisions of the Act. (8)
The order determining the fee by the Fee Regulatory Committee
shall be binding on the self financed school till the revision application is
finally decided by the Fee Revision Committee. In the event of increase in fees
by the Fee Revision Committee, the self financed school shall be at liberty to
collect the differential amount from the student/parents in the next quarter. (1)
Within a period of thirty days from the commencement of these
rules, the self financed school shall submit to the Fee Regulatory Committee a
proposal for fixation of fees or fee structure in FORM-II along with the
following information, namely:- (i)
audited accounts for the last two financial years i.e. 2014-2015
and 2015-16; and provisional accounts of financial year 2016-17 along with a
certificate of Chartered Accountant showing the income and expenditure; (ii)
fee collected from the students for the previous academic year and
also fee collected for the academic year 2017-18; (iii)
detailed justification for proposed fee or fee structure shall be
given along with necessary accounts and statements relating to income and
expenditure and such other matters as may be required by the Fee Regulatory
Committee; (iv)
an undertaking to the effect that if the self financed school has
collected the fee at the rates of previous academic year and such fee being in
excess of the fees fixed by the Fee Regulatory Committee, the difference of the
fee collected and fee structure determined by the Fee Regulatory Committee, shall
be adjusted in the remaining quarters of the academic year. In case annual fee
is taken in advance, excess fee shall be refunded within thirty days. (2)
The Fee Regulatory Committee shall scrutinise the proposal and
after giving an opportunity of being heard take a decision within a period of
ninety days from the receipt of the proposal. The powers and functions of the
Chairperson and the Fee Regulatory Committee amongst others shall be as
follows, namely:- (1)
The Chairperson of the Fee Regulatory Committee,- (i)
shall by an order authorise any officer or person for
authentication of such orders and such decisions of the Committee under
sub-section (3) of section 6 of the Act; (ii)
may authorise any member of the Fee Regulatory Committee to visit
any school for verification; (iii)
may authorise any officer for inspection of the accounts and
records of the self financed school under sub-section (4) of section 13; (iv)
shall monitor the strict implementation of the provisions of the
Act and the rules. (2)
The Fee Regulatory Committee shall - (i)
make necessary documents available where the revision application
is made by the self financed school to the Fee Revision Committee; (ii)
call for such other information or statements as are necessary for
determination of fee structure or require the presence of the authorised person
of the self financed school. (3)
The order of the Committee determining the total fee shall also
contain directions to refund the difference of fee within the specific time
limit mentioned in it. The State Government shall by an
order determine the process fee for submission of proposal for fixation of fee
or fee structure to the Fee Regulatory Committee and for filing revision
application before the Fee Revision Committee. (1)
The Fee Regulatory Committee may exempt such self financed school
from determination of fee that charges the amount of fee lower than the fee
prescribed by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette.
Such self financed school shall file an affidavit to that effect in FORM IV. (2)
If in the opinion of the Fee Regulatory Committee any self
financed school charging amount of fee lower than the fee prescribed by the
State Government by notification in Official Gazette, has increased the fee
unreasonably, then, it shall be competent to call for such school's records for
fee regulation. (3)
Exclusive pre-primary classes/play groups/cr?ches not attached to any school shall be exempted under section 9
of the Act. Explanation.-For the purposes of
second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 9 and sub-rule (3), any tie up,
agreement, collaboration of any such pre-primary classes/play groups/cr?ches with any self financed school either directly or indirectly,
or operating under functional/financial or administrative control of the same
management or of the relatives or the pre-primary schools being run as
franchise or agency by the primary school shall be considered to be an
attachment with such school. Every self financed school shall
maintain the accounts in the following manner, namely:- (1)
(a) the self financed school shall keep accounts for different
kinds of expenditure and transactions such as fee collected, grants received
from the Central/State Government/local authority, donations and financial
assistance received, payment of salary and allowances to the teaching and
non-teaching staff, purchase of machinery, equipments, laboratory apparatus and
consumables, library books, stationery, computers software and other such
expenditure incurred for imparting educational activities such as building
construction/renovation/expansion of the school, etc.; (b) certificate relating to Tax
Deducted at Source (TDS) for salary of teaching and non-teaching staff; (c) expenditure incurred towards
the related trust or affiliated/holding/subsidiary company having same
trustees/directors/members or relatives for educational, management service or
house keeping services. (2)
The self financed school shall keep the registers, accounts and
records within its premises at all reasonable time for inspection by the Fee
Regulatory Committee or the authorised officer. (3)
The accounts maintained by the self financed school together with
all vouchers relating to various items or receipts and expenditure shall be
preserved by that school till the audit of accounts is over and objection, if
any, raised is settled or till a period of seven years, whichever is later. (4)
(a) The self financed school shall maintain the following
registers and record for the purposes of the Act and the rules, namely:- (i)
General Register, (ii)
Admission Registers, (iii)
Fee receipt, (iv)
Fee Collection Register, (v)
Cash Book, (vi)
Library Register, (vii)
Staff Attendance Register, (viii) Student
Attendance Register, (ix)
Voucher File, (x)
Cheque Register, (xi)
Service Books, (xii)
Stock Registers, (xiii) Transfer
Certificate Book, (xiv)
Contingency Expenditure Register, (xv)
Asset Register, (xvi)
Building rent Register, (xvii) District
Information System for Education (DISE) form, (xviii) Unified
District Information System for Education (U-DISE) form, (xix)
Minute book of school management, (xx)
Register for TDS certificate. (b) The Principal/Head
Master/Managing Trustee or authorised person of the self financed school shall
be responsible for maintenance of accounts, records and registers. (1)
The self financed school shall open and operate only one bank
account by the name "..................." for individual registered
school. The student/parents shall make payment of prescribed fees directly to
the aforesaid bank account of the concerned school. The acknowledgement of
receipt of the total fees collected from the student/parents shall be given in
the form of counter foil by the bank, or by the concerned school, as the case
may be. (2)
All expenditure towards management, teaching and non-teaching
staff, house keeping, etc. shall be incurred from this account. (3)
The payments towards the salary and allowances of the teaching and
non-teaching staff members shall be credited directly to their bank account
from the aforesaid bank account. (1)
Any self financed school being aggrieved by the order of the Fee
Regulatory Committee under section 10 of the Act, may prefer a revision
application in FORM V, to the Fee Revision Committee, within a period of
twenty-one days from the date of receipt of such order along with payment of
process fees. (2)
A statement stating the grounds for preferring the revision
application shall be submitted along with FORM V. (3)
In case of delay in preferring the revision application, the
applicant self financed school shall also file a delay condonation application
with the revision application. (4)
The Fee Revision Committee may call for additional information
from the applicant, as it considers necessary for deciding the revision
application. The Fee Revision Committee shall call for the records of
proceedings of the Fee Regulatory Committee and after considering the same and
giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the applicant, may confirm,
revise or cancel the order against which the revision application is preferred.
The decision of the Fee Revision Committee shall be final and conclusive and
shall be binding on the self financed school. (5)
The Fee Revision Committee shall take decision on revision
application within a period of ninety days from the date of receipt of the said
application. (1)
The Chairperson shall preside over the meetings of the Fee
Revision Committee. The Committee may adopt its own procedure for transaction
of business as it deems fit. (2)
The date, time and venue of the meeting of the Committee shall be
decided by the Chairperson and the same shall be communicated to the members of
the Committee by the Member-Secretary of the Committee. (3)
The notice in FORM VI along with the agenda items of the meetings
shall be given to the each Member of the Committee at least seven clear days in
advance by registered post acknowledgement or any other mode including
electronic mode as may be decided by the Committee. The acknowledgement shall
be preserved for the period of one year. (4)
The emergency meeting may be called for by the Chairperson of the
Fee Revision Committee with a short notice of 24 hours. (5)
The quorum at the meeting of the Committee shall be atleast
two-third members of the total strength of the Committee. If there is no quorum
at the meeting, the same shall be adjourned for half an hour. Thereafter the
meeting shall be held for the transaction of its business. (6)
The Member-Secretary of the Committee shall prepare the
proceedings of the meeting and circulate the same to the all the members within
seven days from the date of meeting. (7)
All official correspondence relating to administrative nature
shall be issued under the signature of the Member-Secretary of the Committee.
The orders and decisions of the Committee shall also be communicated by the
Member-Secretary of the Committee. The Committee may authorise any Member of
the Committee to visit the school for verification and any officer for
inspection of accounts and records. (8)
The Fee Revision Committee shall
adopt following procedure for deciding the revision application preferred by
self financed school in FORM V, namely:- (1)
On receiving the revision application from the Self financed
School in the prescribed manner, the Fee Revision Committee,- (i)
shall call for the proceedings of the Fee Regulatory Committee; (ii)
shall go through the proposal of the self financed school
submitted to the Fee Regulatory Committee and relevant documents and evidences
attached with such proposal; (iii)
shall examine the grounds on which the revision application is
preferred; (iv)
may call for any information or evidences as may be necessary for
deciding the application from the self financed school to be submitted within
the specified time limit; (v)
shall take into consideration the factors on which the Fee
Regulatory Committee has determined the fee structure; (vi)
consider such other matters as it may deem necessary. (2)
After considering all the relevant factors mentioned in sub-rule
(1), the Fee Revision Committee shall take a decision on revision application
within a period of ninety days from the date of receipt of the said revision
application. (3)
The decision of the Fee Revision Committee shall be communicated
to the school management and copy of the same shall be endorsed to the Fee
Regulatory Committee. (4)
The order of the Fee Revision Committee shall clearly specify
determination of total fees to be levied for three years and imposition of
penalty in case of contravention. The powers and functions of the
Chairperson and of the Fee Revision Committee amongst others shall be as
follows, namely:- (1)
The Committee may call for any information or evidences as may be
necessary for deciding the revision application from the self financed school. (2)
The Committee may issue such directions as it deems necessary in
order to communicate the decision with respect to matters specified in section
14 of the Act. (1)
The self financed school shall submit the complete proposal for
fixation of fee in accordance with the provisions of Act and the rules within
prescribed time limit. (2)
The school charging amount of fee lower than the fee prescribed by
State Government by notification in the Official Gazette, shall file an
affidavit to the Fee Regulatory Committee. (3)
The school shall send the complete information or statement as may
be called for by the Fee Regulatory Committee and the Fee Revision Committee
within the time limit given by the Committee. (4)
The school management/authorised person shall remain present
before the Committee as and when required. (5)
The school shall refund the fees as per the directions of the
Committee within the time limit. (6)
It shall also inform the Fee Regulatory Committee,- (i)
regarding any tie up, agreement, collaboration with any
pre-primary school/play group either directly or indirectly; (ii)
regarding any franchise given by the management for pre-primary
school operating under functional, financial or administrative control of the
same management or of relatives; (iii)
expenditure incurred towards the related trust or
affiliated/holding/subsidiary company having same trustees/directors/members or
relatives; (iv)
having tie up, agreement, understanding or franchise with
pre-primary schools or playgroups. If any question arises as to the
interpretation of any rule, the matter shall be referred to the State
Government and the decision of the State Government in that behalf shall be
final.GUJARAT
SELF FINANCED SCHOOLS (REGULATION OF FEES) RULES, 2017
PREAMBLE