The hidden crisis in Indian education: How fee collection delays are crippling our institutions
Outdated fee collection drains cash flow. See how Jodo Flex automates payments, saving time and boosting financial stability!
“According to a 2022 FICCI report, 70% of educational institutes in India face significant cash flow disruptions due to delayed fee collections”. — FICCI, 2022
Have you ever wondered why some educational institutions struggle despite having full classrooms? The answer might surprise you.
The silent threat to educational excellence
While we often discuss curriculum innovation and teaching methodologies, a more fundamental issue threatens the foundation of Indian education—unpredictable cash flow.
For Rajesh Sharma, founder of a mid-sized coaching institute in Jaipur, this reality hit hard during the pandemic. “We had 800+ students enrolled, but nearly 40% of our fees were consistently delayed by 45-60 days. We were teaching at full capacity while struggling to pay our faculty on time.”
Rajesh isn’t alone. Our research reveals that upto 80% of the institutes face significant delays where over 50% of their annual cashflows are delayed by more than 60 days. In over 50% of the institutes, even teaching staff spend time chasing payments - time that should be invested in improving educational outcomes.
When fee collection breaks down, everything does
Consider what happens when fee collection falters:
- Faculty retention becomes impossible when salary payments are irregular
- Infrastructure upgrades get postponed indefinitely
- Quality suffers as resources are diverted to financial firefighting
- Strategic planning becomes reactive rather than proactive
“We had to delay launching our new science lab for three consecutive quarters,” shares Priya Desai, Principal of a K-12 school in Pune. “All because we couldn’t predict when our operating capital would actually be available.”
How technology is transforming the way institutions collect fees
Education payments stand apart in the world of financial transactions. Unlike other sectors that have seen rapid technological innovation, educational fee collection is a unique challenge—a high-value, recurring payment model where institutes must collect fees multiple times throughout a student’s entire academic journey.
Most institutes continue to collect via cash, cheques and DDs. Even the progressive ones use bank transfers or generic payment gateways. This is the case as no payment system has been built specifically for education fee collections. What educational institutions currently use is a makeshift combination of generic financial products - solutions never intentionally crafted for the intricate demands of educational fee management. This results in manual operations and delayed cashflows.
Today’s education leaders face a critical question: What is the real opportunity cost of manually managing payment collections? The current system doesn’t just consume time—it actively prevents institutions from focusing on their core mission of delivering quality education.
This systemic challenge sparked the development of innovative solutions like Jodo Flex. The vision is transformative: What if fee collection could be:
- Completely automated
- Implemented in seconds
- Flexible for parents
- Ensures timely fee collection
Institutions are already seeing the impact
The transformation is already underway at 2000+ schools, colleges, coachings and skilling institutes. By digitizing and automating fee collection through Jodo Flex, they’ve created a foundation of financial predictability that enables everything else.
“The difference is night and day,” explains Vikram Mohan, Finance Director at a leading coaching network. “Before implementing Jodo Flex, we never knew if we’d hit our monthly collection targets. Now we can forecast our cash position accurately three months ahead, which has transformed our ability to invest in growth.”
Check out what Masters’ Union Co-Founder, Pratham Mittal had to say about Jodo Flex.
Beyond just solving a problem
When fee collections become efficient and timely, the benefits extend far beyond accounting ledgers:
- Teachers focus on teaching, not wondering about delayed salaries
- Administrators become strategic partners in educational excellence, not payment processors
- Students experience uninterrupted learning without the awkwardness of payment reminders
- Growth initiatives receive consistent funding, creating better educational outcomes
The educational institutions that will thrive in the next decade won’t just be those with the best teachers or newest facilities—they’ll be the ones that have solved the fundamental challenge of predictable cash flow.
When the financial foundation is solid, everything else becomes possible: better facilities, happier faculty, innovative programs, and ultimately, superior educational outcomes for students.
Jodo is at the forefront of this transformation, providing a stable financial foundation that allows educational institutions to focus on their core mission.
Book a free demo call with a fee collection expert now!
For more insight into how JODO is revolutionizing fee collection, connect with our Co-founder, Atulya Bhat, on LinkedIn.
