‘Mumabai’ blunder to cost printer at least 10 lakh

MUMBAI: A typo turning 'Mumbai' into 'Mumabai' led to a ₹10-lakh penalty for the printing company and reissuance of over a million certificates.

MUMBAI: An embarrassing typo that turned ‘Mumbai’ into ‘Mumabai’, and forced the University of Mumbai to reissue over a million convocation certificates, is set to cost the printing company a ₹10-lakh penalty, at least.

Mumbai University

According to university sources, a penalty of 20% of the total cost of the printing tender, or ₹10 lakh, whichever is higher, will be imposed on the contractor. The decision was taken at a recent Management Council meeting, where the university administration presented an internal inquiry report on the error. “Once the minutes of the meeting are approved at the next meeting, we will begin the process to take action,” said a university official.

Earlier this year, in the run-up to the convocation ceremony, students from colleges affiliated to the university received convocation certificates that had misspelt ‘Mumbai’ as ‘Mumabai’. The university was forced to recall the certificates and reissue them.

The report presented by the university administration blamed the printer for the error, stating that the proof approved by the university carried the correct spelling, but the copies delivered to students contained the misspelt word. However, elected members of the Management Council are not satisfied with this explanation.

She added, “We also demanded action against the university officers involved in the process. We have formally submitted our dissent note during the meeting. Blaming the printer is not enough.”