Education Ministry asks states to adopt digital school fee payments

New Delhi, Oct. 11 — The Education Ministry’s Department of School Education and Literacy has asked states and union territories to encourage schools to accept fees through the Unified Payments Interface, mobile wallets and net banking, saying the shift to digital payments will improve transparency and make fee submission more convenient for parents. The department sent a letter on Saturday to state authorities and to autonomous bodies under the ministry, including NCERT, CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, urging them to explore and implement secure mechanisms for collecting admission and examination fees electronically.

The communication described the initiative as a first-of-its-kind effort to modernise school administrative processes related to financial transactions and to leverage the growing penetration of digital payment platforms. The ministry said moving from cash to digital payments would allow parents and students to pay from home without visiting schools and would create a clear, traceable record of transactions. The letter framed the change as part of the government’s broader digital transformation agenda and its effort to promote...