Bombay HC Orders Maharashtra to Set RTE Fee Reimbursement Timeline, Revise Rates
The Bombay High Court in Mumbai on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to set a fixed timeline for reimbursing private unaided schools for educating children admitted under the Right to Education (RTE) Act quota. A division bench of Justices RI Chagla and Farhan Dubhash also ordered the state government to appoint a committee of senior bureaucrats to review and revise the reimbursement rate of ₹17,670 per child per year, which has remained unchanged since 2016-17.
The high court issued the direction while hearing a contempt petition filed by Om Education Society against education department officials. The institute had approached the court after the state failed to comply with an earlier order directing the payment of pending reimbursements worth ₹3.65 crore for RTE quota students across three schools run by the petitioner.
During Friday's proceedings, Additional Government Pleader Kavita Solunke informed the court that the pending funds would be released to the institute by September 4.
Although the statement resolved the petitioner's specific grievance, the division bench expressed concern that private unaided schools are repeatedly forced to approach the high court to secure statutory reimbursements. The judges highlighted that 133 such petitions have been filed in the court so far this year.
The bench noted that delayed reimbursements over prolonged periods impact the financial viability of institutions discharging their statutory obligations. Under the RTE Act, private unaided schools must reserve 25% of seats for children from economically weaker and disadvantaged sections, with the state required to reimburse the cost of educating them.
The judges stated that the statutory obligation of schools to provide free education is inseparably linked to the state's corresponding duty to reimburse eligible expenditure, noting that the legislative object of the RTE Act is to facilitate rather than discourage private participation in the scheme.
The high court ordered the state government to establish a monitoring mechanism to enforce reimbursement timelines and revise the fee rates considering the substantial escalation in educational expenditure since 2016-17. The court directed the government to complete the entire exercise by the end of the educational year.
