A TC request and a fee dispute are connected, but they are not the same question. A school may say a balance remains due; the parent can ask for a clear calculation and the rule relied on, while separately asking what will happen to the TC and the student's transfer or board records. Do not assume that disputing the amount makes it disappear, or that an old court order decides every family's case.

Start with a written request

Send the request to the principal and the school's official email address. Keep the sent message and any acknowledgement. Include:

  • the student's full name, class, admission or enrolment number, and last date of attendance;
  • the date the student is leaving, why the transfer is needed, and the receiving school's name if known;
  • a clear request for the TC and any required record update, including UDISE or board records where relevant;
  • the date by which the receiving school says it needs documents, with its written communication attached if available; and
  • a request for an itemised statement of any amount the school says remains due, with the period, fee head, credits for payments, and the rule or fee decision it relies on.

Ask the school to confirm in writing whether it treats the student's enrolment as ended, the date it has recorded for discontinuance or migration, whether any TC is ready, and what specific step it says remains outstanding. Ask the receiving school in writing whether it can consider provisional admission or another interim arrangement while the TC is pending. Whether that is available depends on the student's class, school type, board rules and the receiving school's applicable requirements.

There is no single TC deadline established by the sources reviewed here for every Delhi student, school category and class. If a registration, examination or admission deadline is close, say so in the first message, attach proof, and request urgent written action. Do not rely on a general promise that the matter is “being processed.”

Compare the fee calculation with the transfer date

For a CBSE-affiliated school, two CBSE provisions are relevant, but they address different parts of the issue:

  • Affiliation Bye-Laws, clause 7.4 says that, “in case not otherwise provided by the Appropriate Government,” when a student discontinues study or wishes to migrate to another school, dues are to be collected only up to the month of discontinuance or migration, not the month in which the TC is applied for. It says this applies to all fee heads. This may matter if a school bills through a later month merely because the TC request came later. It does not erase amounts accrued up to the relevant discontinuance or migration month, decide whether earlier fee was lawfully charged, or resolve which government rule applies to this school and student. Read the qualification at the start of the clause; do not treat it as a universal fee waiver. CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws, Chapter 7, clause 7.4
  • CBSE Examination Bye-Laws, rule 8(vi) covers a student leaving at the end of a session or permitted to leave during a session because of a parent transfer, family relocation or a parent's request, especially in classes IX to XII. It says an authenticated TC is to be received “on payment of all dues.” The CBSE circular amending the rule also says a student should not be forced to leave, especially in classes IX to XII, except on the stated grounds. The rule does not itself settle what fees are actually due, how a different applicable law interacts with it, or the outcome of a particular dispute. Check the current CBSE text and the student's class and circumstances. CBSE Examination Bye-Laws amendment, 28 June 2012

The two CBSE provisions are not interchangeable: clause 7.4 limits the month up to which dues may be collected in the described migration/discontinuance situation, subject to its opening qualification; rule 8(vi) describes when a CBSE school issues the authenticated TC. Neither provision should be quoted without checking the exact fee period, school category, class, board and any Delhi-specific rule or court order that applies.

Make a simple month-by-month table. For each line in the school's demand, record the fee head, month or school year, amount billed, amount paid, date paid, and amount the school says remains. Mark any disputed entry instead of silently treating it as agreed or invalid. Keep receipts, bank statements, fee circulars, school notices, withdrawal acknowledgements and messages about the new school's deadline together.

If you choose to tender an amount you consider undisputed, explain in writing how you calculated it and keep the receipt and reservation of your position. A payment, undertaking or settlement can affect rights; obtain advice before signing an undertaking or agreeing to final settlement terms.

What the RTE Act does and does not establish

Section 5 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act concerns a child's transfer for completing elementary education. Subsections 5(1) and 5(2) describe the transfer right and exclude the destination schools listed in section 2(n)(iii) and (iv), namely specified-category and unaided schools. Subsection 5(3) says that, for admission in such another school, the previous school's head teacher or in-charge shall immediately issue the TC; delay in producing the TC cannot be used to delay or deny admission in that other school, and the responsible head teacher or in-charge may face disciplinary action under applicable service rules.

This is not a rule for every student in every class or every destination school. It does not by itself determine private-school fee arrears. The destination exclusions and the elementary-education scope matter. A Delhi High Court order in a Class II transfer dispute cited section 5(3) and directed a TC, but the order concerned a specific family and guardianship dispute, not unpaid fees. We have not established the recognition, aid or section 2(n) category of every school to which this guide might be applied; confirm those facts before relying on section 5. RTE Act, sections 2(n) and 5, India Code

If the school refuses or does not answer

  1. Send one focused follow-up. Restate the TC request, transfer date, next-school deadline and the exact fee entries in dispute. Ask for the school's written position on both the certificate and the account. Copy the receiving school only where appropriate and avoid circulating the child's personal details more widely than needed.
  2. Escalate to the appropriate education authority. For a Delhi school, identify its management, recognition, aid and board status, then contact the relevant District Deputy Director of Education or Directorate of Education branch through its current official contact channel. Attach the request, acknowledgement, fee statement, receipts and any deadline proof. Ask which procedure applies to this school and to a TC refusal. Do not assume a fee-hike complaint channel automatically decides a TC request.
  3. Check the Delhi fee framework separately from a TC request. Delhi enacted the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025 and Rules. The Rules describe a complaint and group-appeal route for certain decisions under that Act, including a 15% parent threshold for an “Aggrieved Parents’ Group” appeal. That is a fee-regulation process, not a general appeal route for a single student's withheld TC. In a 1 February 2026 Removal of Difficulties Order, the Delhi Government set timelines for the three-year block beginning in 2026–27, said schools could not charge above the fee being charged from 1 April 2025 until the next-block fee was fixed, and made 2025–26 “exorbitant” fees subject to the final outcome of vires proceedings. In its 28 February 2026 interim judgment in W.P.(C) 122/2026 and connected petitions, the Delhi High Court put only clauses 3(1) and 3(2) of that Order in abeyance during those petitions and allowed the petitioners to collect the previous academic year's fee for 2026–27 until fees were fixed or approved, subject to the petitions' outcome and clause 3(6). These are dated, interim directions, not a final ruling or a blanket rule for every school. Confirm the current rules and orders before using a fee complaint or appeal route. Delhi fee-regulation Rules, 2025; Removal of Difficulties Order, 1 February 2026 (official Gazette); Delhi High Court interim judgment, 28 February 2026
  4. For an elementary-education rights complaint, verify the local-authority route. Section 32 of the RTE Act provides for a written complaint to the local authority having jurisdiction, with an appeal route described in the Act. First establish that the student's situation falls within the relevant RTE protection and identify the competent local authority. Delhi DoE hosts an online RTE complaint form, but the existence of the form does not settle jurisdiction or eligibility. Delhi DoE RTE complaint form
  5. Get prompt legal advice if the deadline is near or the dispute is substantial. A lawyer can assess whether a representation to the authority, a fee proceeding or urgent court relief fits the student's school category, board, class, transfer facts and records. Do not assume that a complaint pauses an admission or examination deadline.

What Delhi High Court orders show, and what they do not

In Saisha Chhillar v. Directorate of Education & Ors., W.P.(C) 5614/2025 (30 April 2025), the Delhi High Court considered a Class II child's move after her mother relocated to Gurugram and a parent had asked the former Delhi school not to issue a TC during a guardianship dispute. The Court referred to RTE Act section 5(3) and directed the former school to issue the TC within one week after receiving the order. This was an order about a specific child's transfer and parental dispute. It was not a decision about unpaid fees or a ruling that every TC must issue within one week. Delhi High Court order (official PDF)

The Court's Naya Samaj Parents Association v. Apeejay School Sheikh Sarai, W.P.(C) 12305/2019 (2 May 2025), concerned a parents' association's fee challenge and interim protection from action over alleged arrears. It is useful context for why the fee account and fee-setting basis can be contested separately, but it was not a general TC decision. In that order, the Court rejected the application for interim relief and made continued class attendance conditional on payment of specified arrears in instalments, subject to the case outcome. Do not cite it as authority that fees never matter or that a parent may withhold any amount. Delhi High Court judgment (official PDF)

Keep this record before escalating

  • Copy of the dated TC request and proof of delivery.
  • The school's written refusal, silence or stated reason; note every follow-up date.
  • The child's current class, board and next school's written admission or registration deadline.
  • The date of discontinuance or migration the family requested and the date the school recorded.
  • Itemised school bills, fee notices, applicable fee decisions, receipts and payment proofs.
  • A month-by-month reconciliation of billed, paid, credited and disputed amounts.
  • Any existing court order, written undertaking or pending fee proceeding that concerns this student or school.
  • The exact name and current contact details of the education authority or grievance channel approached, with acknowledgement numbers and copies of submissions.

For help organizing the official materials, see our India legal research workflow and Indian legal research memo template. When checking a court order, our guide to Indian case-law research websites explains how to identify official court portals and confirm an order against its source record. For tracing how statutory wording changed, see legislative-history research in India. These resources support research and recordkeeping; they do not determine a particular student’s rights or replace advice from qualified counsel.

Questions

Can a Delhi school withhold a TC because fees are unpaid?

There is no safe universal answer from that fact alone. CBSE Examination Bye-Law rule 8(vi) refers to payment of dues in the circumstances it covers; CBSE Affiliation Bye-Law clause 7.4 separately addresses the collection month in specified migration/discontinuance situations, subject to its opening qualification. The cited Delhi High Court orders concern different facts: one addresses an elementary-school family dispute, and the other a fee challenge without deciding a general TC rule. Check the student’s class, school category, board, applicable fee rules and any order that actually applies to the student before drawing a conclusion.

Does CBSE clause 7.4 cancel all fees once I apply for a TC?

No. Its text concerns the month up to which dues may be collected when a student discontinues studies or wishes to migrate, and says the rule applies to all fee heads. It does not say that fees accrued up to the discontinuance or migration month are erased. The clause also begins “in case not otherwise provided by the Appropriate Government,” so the applicable government rules and school category must be checked.

Does RTE section 5 apply to a Class IX or XI student?

Section 5 addresses transfer for completing elementary education. It is not a general transfer-certificate rule for all classes. It also excludes specified-category and unaided schools as destinations under section 5(1) and (2). Confirm the child’s age and class, the purpose of transfer and the legal category of both schools before relying on it.

Is there a fixed number of days for the school to issue a TC?

The sources reviewed do not establish one universal deadline covering every school, student and transfer. RTE section 5(3) says “immediately” in the limited statutory context described in the article. The Delhi High Court’s one-week direction in Saisha Chhillar was a deadline in that individual order, not a general rule.

What if the school and parent disagree about how much is due?

Ask for an itemised account, compare each month and fee head with payment proof and the applicable fee decision, and identify the exact disputed entries. Keep the TC and fee questions separate in writing. A fee complaint route may not decide the certificate request; check the current DoE process and obtain advice before signing an undertaking or settlement.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. The outcome can depend on the student’s age and class, school recognition and category, board affiliation, transfer reason and date, fee periods, current Delhi orders, and any existing litigation or undertaking. Verify current official sources and obtain qualified Indian legal advice about a specific student or school.
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