E-Paper
Court asks BIMT to refund tuition fee
The court said that an educational institution can not forfeit the amount for which services were not provided to consumers.
A consumer court has asked the Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMT) to cough up Rs 44,000 as refund and compensation to a student, coming down heavily on private educational institutions' policy of "fees once received are not refundable".
The BIMT has been ordered to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation, in addition to Rs 39,000 as the tuition fees, within a month.
"Merely because the seat could not be filled up does not mean that the BIMT had a right to forfeit the tuition fees," observed the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission bench presided by Justice JD Kapoor and member Ruminita Mittal.
Taking strong view of refusal to refund the tuition fees to Dheeraj Sachdeva, who could not pursue studies in BIMT after taking admission, the Commission said, "Any provider of service can claim consideration if it provides the service."
"But, in this case, the service was not provided at all and, therefore, the District Consumer Forum has rightly ordered that Rs 39,000 be given to the appellant," added the Commission rejecting BIMT's appeal.
"The educational institutions can not forfeit the amount for which services were not provided to consumers," it said.
Earlier, a District Forum, in its January 18, 2003 order, had allowed Sachdeva's complaint wherein he alleged that the BIMT did not pay back the fees on the ground that it's seat remained vacant as the admission was already closed and, as per the rule, it was non-refundable.
