Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee to undergo major changes

The State government decides to constitute a high-level experts committee to study practices in other States; plans to amend the existing rules granting powers to TAFRC to inspect the colleges before fixing the fee

Hyderabad: The Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (TAFRC) will soon undergo major changes with the State government deciding to constitute a high-level experts committee, comprising senior bureaucrats and universities’ officials, to study fee fixation mechanisms in various States. The Education Department will release the committee constitution order in a couple of days.

The committee will visit States, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, to study practices followed there in fixing the fee for professional programmes.

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This move comes following abnormal fee hikes found in the new fee structures of some private engineering colleges for the three-year block period starting academic year 2025-26. Some of the proposed fees saw sharp increases that triggered concern among Education and Finance department officials as the State’s financial condition is already in a bad shape.

At present, the TAFRC revises fee for the professional programmes once in three years based on the income and expenditure incurred by the colleges besides facilities extended to students.

The colleges submit their income and expenditure audit reports to the committee but officials contend this method lacks proper scrutiny, allowing colleges to inflate costs through false bills.

Further, the government is considering amending the existing rules granting powers to TAFRC to inspect the colleges before fixing the fee. “Unlike Telangana, States like Kerala have the provision of physical inspections of colleges by the fee regulatory committee. This is also being considered. The existing fee structure in all private colleges offering professional programmes will be continued for the academic year 2025-26,” said a senior Education Department official.