The government has announced tough new controls on fee increases and financial aid programmes for schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme.
The schools will have to provide parents with financial information on their reserves and spending plans, including details of any capital works, before applying for fee increases.
And they will have to submit details of how they have consulted with parents and the views that parents have expressed to the Education Bureau for consideration along with their applications.
The 73 schools in the scheme have been told to offer fees relief to pupils from low-income backgrounds, who do not already receive such help, by the end of this year - if there is unspent cash.
The direction is one of seven new regulations designed to boost uptake of scholarship and fee remission schemes at the schools, laid down by the Education Bureau in a circular to schools last week.
The bureau is also tightening the audit inspection cycle for the schools from once every seven years to every four years.
The measures are a result of an ongoing review of the schools, prompted by an audit report last year which detailed a catalogue of financial malpractice across all but one of its schools.