New Delhi, July 13: The National Consumer Commission has termed as “unfair” the withholding of the entire fee of a student by an educational institute even if he withdraws from it.
“In view of the UGC guidelines, we are of the view that the institute was unfair in retaining the entire fee even after the student withdrew from their college,” the Commission bench headed by Mr Ashok Bhan said.
It referred to a UGC guideline which said that the universities in the public interest shall maintain a waiting list of students and in the event of a candidate withdrawing before the starting of the course, the waitlisted candidates should be given admission.
According to the Commission, the guidelines said that the entire fee collected from the student after a deduction of the processing fee shall be refunded.
The Commission bench, also comprising member, Mr S.K. Naik, passed the order on a petition by the Andhra University challenging the State Commission's direction to refund the entire fee besides paying a compensation of Rs 10,000 to a student.
“We direct the Andhra University to retain only Rs 1,000 of the fee deposited by the complainant and refund the balance amount with six per cent per annum interest,” it said.