The 5 Percent Cap on School Fee Increases in Punjab

A private school in Punjab charging four thousand rupees a month or more cannot raise its fee by more than five per cent a year. With written permission it still cannot go past eight per cent. And it cannot make you buy books or uniform from a particular shop.

These limits have been in the law since 2016 and 2017. Most parents have never been told they exist.

We read the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation) Ordinance 1984 on 6 September 2026 in the text published by the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Government of the Punjab, carrying the amendments of 2016 and 2017.

The numbers in section 7A

The cap is measured against the fee charged for that class in the previous academic year, not against the fee any other class pays.

The word fee covers everything

This is the part that closes the usual escape route.

Subsection 9 says the word fee in this section means admission fee, tuition fee, security, laboratory fee, library fee or any other fee or amount charged by an institution from a student.

So a school cannot hold tuition steady and add a new charge to make up the difference. A new laboratory charge, a raised security, an annual charge under some other name, all of it is fee for the purposes of the cap.

Subsection 8 then caps one item outright. The admission fee or the security shall not exceed the amount equal to the tuition fee payable by the student for a month.

The books and uniform rule

Subsection 10 is one line and it answers the complaint parents make most often.

An institution shall not require the parents to purchase textbooks, uniform or other material from a particular shop or provider.

The school may specify the book and the uniform. It may not specify the seller. A note telling parents that books are available only from a named shop is what the subsection was written for.

Which schools the cap does not touch

The five per cent limit applies to a school charging four thousand rupees per month or above. The Ordinance says the limitation shall not apply to a school charging a monthly fee from a class of students at a rate which is less than four thousand rupees per month, including the increase.

Read that inclusion carefully. The test is the rate after the increase, so a school at three thousand eight hundred rupees moving to four thousand two hundred has crossed the line.

The threshold is per class, and it is a monthly figure, so an annual fee has to be broken down before you can tell.

What a school must do to charge more

1. Apply to the Registering Authority at least sixty days before the next academic year.
2. State the reasons and justification for the proposed increase.
3. Attach the documents and evidence supporting it.
4. Supply any further information the Registering Authority asks for.
5. Wait for the decision, which is due within thirty days.

The Registering Authority may reject the application after a hearing and recorded reasons, or allow a reasonable increase not exceeding eight per cent of the fee charged for that class in the previous academic year.

So eight per cent is the ceiling even with permission, and there is no route in the Ordinance to go above it.

What it costs a school to ignore this

Section 11 carries penalties that are not small.

The Registering Authority may impose an administrative penalty up to twenty thousand rupees per day, running from the date the notice of contravention is served until the contravention stops. If it continues beyond thirty days, the Registering Authority may file a complaint before a Magistrate of the First Class, who may impose a fine between two hundred thousand and two million rupees.

Running an institution without registration carries a fine between three hundred thousand and four million rupees. The collector of the district recovers unpaid amounts as arrears of land revenue.

An appeal against a final order of the Registering Authority goes to the Commissioner of the Division within thirty days, and the Commissioner decides within thirty days. That decision is final.

What to do as a parent

Start with paper. Ask the school in writing for the fee charged for that class last academic year, and compare it with this year across every head, not tuition alone.

If the rise is above five per cent, ask whether an application was made to the Registering Authority and what the decision was. The Ordinance requires the application, so there either is a decision or there is not.

The complaint goes to the Registering Authority for your district, which the Government constitutes by notification and whose jurisdiction it specifies. Our guide to using the Pakistan Citizen Portal covers the general complaint channel, and our guide to education support from Bait-ul-Mal covers help with school costs. Our guide to the Sindh five day school week covers a different province's school rules.

Common questions

How much can a private school raise fees in Punjab?

Five per cent a year for schools charging four thousand rupees a month or above, and up to eight per cent with the Registering Authority's permission.

Does the cap cover charges other than tuition?

Yes. Fee is defined to include admission fee, tuition fee, security, laboratory fee, library fee and any other amount charged.

How much admission fee can a school charge?

The admission fee or security cannot exceed one month of the student's tuition fee.

Can a school make me buy books from one shop?

No. Subsection 10 forbids requiring parents to purchase textbooks, uniform or other material from a particular shop or provider.

Which schools are outside the cap?

Those charging a class less than four thousand rupees a month, counting the increase itself.

Where do I complain?

To the Registering Authority for the district, with an appeal to the Commissioner of the Division within thirty days.

Last checked and sources

Last checked 6 September 2026. We downloaded the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation) Ordinance 1984 from the Punjab Code portal at punjablaws.punjab.gov.pk, in the text published by the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Government of the Punjab, and read it. Section 7A on fees, including the five per cent limit for a school charging four thousand rupees per month or above and the exclusion of schools below that rate inclusive of the increase, the application to the Registering Authority at least sixty days before the next academic year with reasons and supporting documents, the power to allow a reasonable increase not exceeding eight per cent, the thirty day decision period, the cap on admission fee or security at one month of tuition fee, the definition of fee as admission fee, tuition fee, security, laboratory fee, library fee or any other fee or amount charged, and the bar on requiring parents to purchase textbooks, uniform or other material from a particular shop or provider, are all taken from that text. Section 7A was inserted by the amending Act of 2016 published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary) dated 4 March 2016, and its subsections on the five and eight per cent figures and the thirty day decision were substituted by the amending Act of 2017 published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary) dated 24 March 2017. Section 10 on appeal to the Commissioner of the Division within thirty days and section 11 setting an administrative penalty up to twenty thousand rupees per day, a fine between two hundred thousand and two million rupees on a continuing contravention, and a fine between three hundred thousand and four million rupees for running an institution without registration, are from the same text. Education is a provincial subject and this is the Punjab Ordinance, so check the law that applies where you live. Nothing here is legal advice.