Maharashtra CET Cell bans unapproved extra fees

The State Common Entrance Test Cell, Maharashtra, has issued a public notice dated 09.09.2026 telling institutes that only fees approved by the Fees Regulating Authority may be charged from students. Circular reference TED-1226 / C.R.07 / CET / 2026 / 2211 responds to representations from candidates, parents and public representatives alleging that several institutes have been collecting excessive or rule-breaking fees from engineering students. The Cell states that any demand for additional fees beyond the approved schedule, including cash demands, is illegal and fully prohibited.

All institutes are instructed to charge only the exact fee approved by the Fees Regulating Authority and to publish the authorised fee-approval order on their notice boards and official websites. If an institute is found charging unapproved or rule-breaking fees, the notice warns of strict legal action and of cancellation of irregular admissions in such institutes. The message is directed at every concerned college under the Cell's technical-admission umbrella.

This file is a student-protection fee-compliance notice. It is not the 07.09.2026 Cut-off circular that fixes 14 September 2026 as the final technical-admission date, and it is not the 02.09.2026 ACAP / institute-quota Rule 13 process circular. Keep the illegal-extra-fees warning separate from the statewide cutoff calendar and from vacant-seat process rules.

What the Fees Regulating Authority line means for colleges

The notice reminds institutes that the Fees Regulating Authority is the body that approves fees for the full set of covered institutions. Once that approval exists, colleges do not have a parallel right to invent cash components, donation-style demands, or other amounts that sit outside the approved schedule. Additional fees beyond the Authority's approval, and fees demanded in cash, are described as illegal and completely barred.

Display obligations are part of the same compliance package. Institutes must put the authorised approval order on their notice boards and websites so that candidates and parents can verify the lawful fee before paying. A college that collects money while hiding the approval order, or while quoting a different figure offline, is operating against the instruction printed on TED-1226 / C.R.07 / CET / 2026 / 2211.

Enforcement language in the notice is not soft. Institutes found charging unapproved rule-breaking fees face strict legal action, and irregular admissions in such institutes may be cancelled. That pairs a fee-compliance duty with an admissions consequence. Colleges should treat both halves as live risk for academic year 2026-27 technical admissions, not as a courtesy advisory.

The public notice is signed by Dilip Sardesai, IAS, for the Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell, Mumbai. Candidates and parents who encounter an unapproved demand should document the claim, check the fee order displayed by the institute, and use official CET Cell channels rather than informal middlemen. The PDF on the Cell site is https://cetcell.mahacet.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Notice-Addtional-Fees-Demand-2.pdf, with the broader notices board at https://cetcell.mahacet.org/notices/.

What students and parents should verify before paying

Before transferring any amount beyond the published approved fee, students should ask the college for the Fees Regulating Authority approval order that matches the course and academic year, and should cross-check that the figure on the receipt matches the displayed order. Cash-only side payments that do not appear on an official receipt are exactly the pattern the 09.09.2026 notice calls illegal.

Do not read this notice as a change to the 14 September 2026 technical-admission cutoff. That cutoff sits on the separate 07.09.2026 Cut-off circular. Do not read it as a rewrite of how management-quota or post-CAP vacant seats must be allotted under Information Brochure Rule 13. That process sits on the separate 02.09.2026 ACAP circular. The 09.09.2026 file answers only what fee may be demanded and what happens if an institute breaks that line.

Institutes that have already displayed the correct approval order should keep that display current through the remaining admission window. Institutes that have been collecting any amount outside the approved schedule should stop immediately, reverse unauthorised collections where required by law, and bring every fee demand back to the Authority-approved figure before further admissions are confirmed.

Public notice TED-1226 / C.R.07 / CET / 2026 / 2211 dated 09.09.2026 is the Maharashtra CET Cell warning that only Fees Regulating Authority-approved fees may be charged, that cash or extra demands are illegal, and that unapproved charging can trigger legal action and cancellation of irregular admissions. That fee-protection stamp, not the 14 September cutoff or the ACAP Rule 13 process note, is the story.