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HC rejects plea for fee hike at private engineering colleges
Telangana high court denied private engineering colleges' plea for fee hikes in 2025-26, directing TAFRC to review and recommend fees within six weeks.
Telangana high court on Friday rejected the plea for an interim direction to the state government to allow private engineering colleges to increase the fees of various engineering courses with effect from the academic year 2025-26, people familiar with the matter said.
The plea was filed on Thursday by 11 private engineering colleges in the state.
The bench headed by justice K Lakshman, however, directed the Telangana admission and fee regulatory committee (TAFRC) to look into the representations of the concerned colleges, finalise the fee structure and submit the recommendations to the government within six weeks.
“The final decision on fee hike in the private engineering colleges rests with the state government,” the judge said.
The judge was hearing a batch of petitions challenging a government order issued on June 28, 2025, which mandated that the fee structure from the previous block period (2022–25) would continue for the 2025–26 academic year as well.
The government’s decision came after it noticed that some colleges were proposing fee hikes as high as 70–100%, which was seen as excessive and inconsistent with established norms, a senior official of the chief minister’s office (CMO) said. As a result, a sub-committee was formed in June to thoroughly review the proposals and recommend a more appropriate fee fixation process, as per a note issued by the CMO.
Justice Lakshman heard the petitions and noted that it was not appropriate for the TAFRC to fail in reviewing the fee structure every three years and deciding on the revision of fees in the private engineering colleges.
Senior advocate Avinash Desai, appearing on behalf of the colleges, argued that proposals were submitted last December, and the committee met in March, during which their proposals were approved, as recorded in the official register.
During the hearing, the judge questioned why TAFRC had not made timely decisions especially when colleges had submitted their proposals as early as December 2024.
Senior advocate Rahul Reddy, arguing on behalf of the government, stated that some colleges were seeking fee hikes of up to 70 to 90% compared to last year. He said the financial implications of any fee hike, noting that the state’s fee reimbursement arrears were already significant, and any further increase would add substantial pressure on the state’s finances.
After hearing all arguments, the judge issued orders on Friday dismissing the plea of the private colleges seeking increase of fees for the year 2025-26.
