It’s official: Parents are entitled to a 25% refund of last year’s school bus fees. The Consumer Protection Authority (CPA) has issued a decision requiring schools, higher education institutions, and third-party transportation providers to refund 25% of school bus fees paid for the 2019-2020 academic year, according to a statement. Students returning to school this fall will receive the rebate as a discount from the 2020-2021 academic year which begins next month. Those who either graduated or who have since changed schools will be getting their 25% in cash within no more than 30 days, the CPA said. CPA Head Ahmed Samir previously said that non-compliance will lead to fines of between EGP 10k and EGP 1 mn, with repeat offenders slapped between EGP 20k and EGP 2 mn.

Background: Parents have complained that they were made to pay bus fees despite students moving to online learning after the government closed schools due to covid-19. Parents and guardians are also complaining over schools continuing to charge them for canceled on-campus activities, and not providing the option to pay the upcoming year’s tuition fees in installments. Read our Blackboard features (here and here) for more on the back-and-forth.