Many schools have also waived off late fee penalty, made fee payment flexible in light of the sudden demonetisation
As common man grapples with cash crunch following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs1,000 notes, many schools in the city have extended the deadline for payment of fee to ease parents’ cash troubles. Sources say many schools have their fee cycle in November and the amount ranges from Rs 30,000 to lakhs. Most of the schools were also accepting fee through cheques.
For instance, at Udgam School the deadline for payment of fee was November 8. While most of the parents had paid the fee, there were a few who had not paid the fee. Since the demonetization, the school has waived late fee penalty.
Director of the school Manan Choksi said, “A penalty of Rs 150 per week is levied for late fee. But we have waived it due to the sudden demonetisation and parents can pay the fee by November end.“ At HB Kapadia, Managing Trustee Muktak Kapadia said, “Unless we get a clear directive from DEO, we cannot decided whether to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes as fee payment.“
Meanwhile, Ahmedabad DEO Navneet Mehta said that there is no clarification on usage of scrapped currency notes in education institutions.
At Pinnacle Public School, accountant Pinky Lulla told Mirror that they have extended their fee deadline from November 2 to 25.
Mahatma Gandhi International School has stopped accepting fee in cash. Pascal Chazot, head of MGIS, said, “We are accepting cheques.“
PARENTS WELCOME DECISION
Jatin Trivedi, a parent whose daughter studies in Udgam School said, “This is a great step by schools. There are parents who are travelling or might have an emergency at home, so the extended deadline can prove to be a boon for them.“
Source – Ahmedabad Mirror – 18th November 2016
