E-Paper
UGC warns of action if colleges don’t refund full fee of students unable to join courses
In a letter to the vice-chancellors of all universities, UGC said that the regulator had received scores of complaints and submissions claiming non-refund or partial refund by colleges or varsities
Higher education sector regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) has warned varsities of action in case they do not offer full refunds to first-year students who are unable to join their courses due to financial hardship or any other reason after taking admission.
In a letter to the vice-chancellors of all universities, UGC secretary Rajnish Jain said that the regulator had received scores of complaints and submissions claiming non-refund or partial refund by colleges or varsities.
This after the UGC had specified in its Guidelines on Academic Calendar for the First Year of Under Graduate and Post-Graduate students of the Universities for the Session 2020-21 that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, parents and students were facing financial hardships and it should be ensured that there are zero cancellation charges for admission up to December 31.
The UGC had taken this step as a one-time measure in view of the raging pandemic.
“To be crystal clear, the entire fees including all charges be refunded in totality (zero cancellation charges) on account of cancellation/ migration up to 31.12.2020. Thereafter, on cancellation/ withdrawal of admissions up to 31.12.2020, the entire fee collected from a student be refunded in full after deduction of not more than Rs1,000 as processing fee,” said the letter by Jain.
The top UGC official however expressed dismay that there were several complaints that colleges and varsities were not following its directive.
“The Commission has been receiving several references in the form of RTI applications/ complaints/ public grievances/ court cases in respect of non refund of fee by the universities/ institutions in violation of the UGC Guidelines. The Commission has taken a very serious view of such complaints. Most of these complaints have come from the students who have taken admission in private or self financing universities and deemed to be universities and later opted out for one or the other reasons,” Jain said.
The UGC asked varsities and colleges to ensure the compliance of its directions or else they could face punitive action.
