Maharashtra drafts law to rein in coaching centres after NEET leak

Maharashtra has released a draft Bill to regulate private coaching centres across the State, a move prompted by the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and growing concerns over student safety and fee practices. The Maharashtra Private Coaching Centres (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2026, was made public on August 22, and the State government has invited objections and suggestions from the public until September 4.

The draft Bill seeks to create a framework for registering and regulating coaching classes, with a focus on the education provided, the mental well-being of students, and the facilities available to them. It also aims to set up a system for grievance redressal. The proposed law prohibits the integration of school and coaching centre operations, bans coaching centres from functioning in basements, and makes registration mandatory for all such centres.

Under the draft Bill, coaching centres must have a minimum of 25 students to register. They are barred from enrolling students below 13 years of age. Tutors must hold at least a graduate degree, and centres cannot make misleading promises to attract enrolments. The Bill also requires centres to declare their fees and prohibits mid-course increases. If a student withdraws, the centre must refund the fees within ten days.

Safety requirements include adequate parking, a minimum of one square metre of space per student, fire and building safety certificates, first-aid facilities, clean drinking water, CCTV cameras with footage retained for a month, separate toilets for boys and girls, and a complaint box. The draft also mandates a weekly off for students, no tests the day after a holiday, a maximum of five teaching hours per day, and access to a counsellor. Batch segregation based on merit is not allowed, and career counselling must go beyond engineering and medicine.

The need for such regulation became evident after the NEET-UG paper leak in May this year, in which nine of the thirteen people arrested in Maharashtra were linked to coaching centres. The primary accused was the founder of reputed NEET coaching centres. Prior to this draft, coaching centres in Maharashtra operated without any licensing requirement, safety audit, or fee cap.

The draft has drawn criticism from the private coaching institute union, which represents at least 50,000 coaching class owners across the State. The union has called the Bill "oppressive" and "unrealistic", citing, for instance, the imposition of fines ranging from one to five lakh rupees for minor violations. Earlier, on May 27, a consortium of coaching associations had held a protest in Mumbai demanding mandatory registration of all private coaching classes and penalties for integrating school and coaching centre operations.

Once the public consultation ends, the government will review the objections and suggestions before finalising the Bill. If enacted, all private coaching centres will need to register online within six months, and registration will be valid for three years.