The Noida administration has slapped a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on over 100 schools over noncompliance with a high court order asking them to give a 15 percent waiver on fees they charged in the first year of the pandemic (2020-21 session). DM Manish Kumar Verma said that the schools have 30 days’ time, if the fees are not returned to the parents, then the same fine will be made of Rs 5 lakh each. This will also be recovered from the schools.
Noida schools face actions over non-compliance with HC orders
The decision was taken at a meeting of the fee regulatory committee chaired by the district magistrate, district inspector of schools, city magistrate, and other administrative officials.
“A notice has been sent to all schools that violated the order of the Allahabad high court. As a fine, each school will have to pay Rs 1 lakh, DM Manish Kumar Verma said.
Top Schools Fined
Shiv Nadar School, Ryan School, Father Agnel School, GD Goenka Public School, Gagan Public School, Modern Public School, Billabong High International School, Ramgya Public School, The Millennium School, Lotus Valley International are among the schools which have been fined.
“Notice has been sent to all the schools that are on our list. There are over 100 of them,” said Dharamvir Singh, the district inspector of schools.
The Allahabad High Court had ordered all schools to refund 15 percent of the fees taken in the Covid-19 period session 2021-22 to the parents. The district administration fined a penalty after schools failed in complying with the order.
Some schools have said in response that during the Corona period, they had given 20 to 30 percent discounts to the parents on their behalf so that discount should be included in the court order. In this regard, the District Magistrate wrote a letter to the government asking for information.
There were also some schools that claimed they had already initiated the process of refund. However, there were also schools that defined to comment on the penalty notice.
