KATHMANDU, JULY 8 The government has implemented stricter regulations for educational consultancies operating in the country. During a Cabinet meeting today, the government approved the 'Educational Consultancy, Language Teaching, and Preparation Classes (Operation and Management) Regulation, 2026,' which aims to tighten oversight on firms that facilitate international studies. Under the newly approved regulation, educational consultancies must now maintain a mandatory cash deposit of Rs 2.5 million in order to continue operations. The regulation was first drafted during the tenure of former education minister Mahabir Pun, who proposed a cash deposit of two million rupees. However, the current administration has increased the required deposit amount by Rs 500,000, bringing the final threshold to Rs 2.5 million. According to the new classification in Schedule-2 of the regulation, the Rs 2.5 million cash deposit only applies to the central offices of these educational consulting services. Furthermore, new fees for promotional events have been introduced. Operating educational fairs, exhibitions or seminars will now incur a daily fee of Rs 25,000 if held within a municipality and Rs 10,000 in a rural municipality. If the organiser of such promotional events is a foreign entity, a fee of $1,500 per day will be levied. Additionally, consultancies must obtain formal approval from the Ministry of Education before hosting any educational fairs. The regulation also establishes higher standards for human resources in the sector. Individual counsellors must have a bachelor's degree and have received certified educational counselling training from a university, college, recognised training provider or diplomatic mission. Employing non-Nepali citizens as educational counsellors will require prior permission under current laws. In addition to professional training, language instructors must have a bachelor's degree. Consultancies must maintain transparent fee structures and update all service charges on their official websites and physical citizen charters in order to protect consumers. Students who pay tuition to foreign institutions must conduct their transactions securely through banks after receiving their no objection certificate (NOC). Consultancies must maintain comprehensive tracking records of students sent abroad for the entire duration of their higher education and offer online support to help resolve issues they face abroad. Most importantly, if a student stranded in a foreign country or a foreign college is declared illegal due to the advice given, then the respective consultancy will be held legally liable to pay for financial damages. The regulation bars foreign ownership in the sector and requires current foreign-invested companies to wholly transfer their business to Nepali nationals within a year. Consultancies must ensure that when they recommend foreign institutions, the destination universities are legally established, quality assured, fully accredited by their home country's regulatory bodies and authorised to enrol international students. Firms or individuals who violate these guidelines will face severe legal penalties, including the cancellation of operational licences and the forfeiture of cash deposits. Licences will be revoked if a consultancy operates without renewal, sends students to government-restricted countries or engages in opaque financial transactions outside of the banking system. Similarly, licences will be revoked if a consultancy is discovered accepting unauthorised gifts or donations from foreign institutions, providing misleading counselling that deprives students of an education, abandoning students or subjecting them to financial exploitation and fraud. The Ministry of Education will also implement an 'A,' 'B,' and 'C' grading system for consultancies based on service quality, performance and student success rates, while maintaining the authority to blacklist high-risk foreign universities. The newly endorsed regulation also states that educational consultancies' operational licences will be valid for one year. To maintain continuity, firms must submit a renewal application to the Ministry of Education at least two months before their current licence expires. A grace period has been established for businesses that fail to meet the initial deadline. Consultancies that miss the regular submission window can still apply for licence renewal within three days of the expiration date by paying Rs 10,000 penalty fee. However, if an agency fails to apply within the extended three-month period, its operational licence will be automatically revoked. In addition, licensed institutions are mandated to submit an annual performance report to the ministry within three months of the end of each fiscal year, and all financial transactions are to be carried out through digital systems. The regulation also sets out the authorities of the federal, provincial and local governments in respect of related educational services. The new framework allows provincial and local governments to register, licence, renew and manage language teaching and test preparation classes in accordance with local laws. However, the core educational consulting and abroad study counselling services are strictly the federal ministry's domain. Existing language and preparation classes currently operating under previous provincial or local licences will continue to be governed by those local laws. In contrast, any institution that previously obtained a licence from a provincial or local government specifically to provide study consulting services must formally reapply to the federal ministry under Rule 3 within three months of the regulation's implementation. Once licensed, these institutions are limited to providing services only within the province or local tier specified in their approved application.