Consumer court: Return fees of student leaving midway

In a recent judgement in Hyderabad III District Consumer Forum, an educational institution was directed to refund the fees of a student who withdrew admission within a month of his joining.

The case was of an Intermediate student who had joined FIITJEE at Kukatpally in 2016. A fee of `4,15,850 was paid for the two-year course. The student joined in the first week of June, but had difficulty in coping with his studies. His parents therefore withdrew his admission within a month’s time.

The forum observed, “A student may leave midstream if he finds the service provided by the educational institution unsatisfactory or not suitable to him and to tell him that “fees once paid is not refundable” is uncalled for and amounts to an unfair trade practice and unjust enrichment of the institute.”

This comes as a relief to many parents who find themselves stuck in situations where children want to withdraw from combined Intermediate and coaching class because of waning interest or they are unable to handle the pressure.

Most of these integrated courses in the city come with hefty advance payments, coupled with a non-refundable clause which often forces the parents to keep the students in the course despite the children wanting to leave mid-stream.

When the parents of the student demanded a refund, the institute refused citing that the withdrawal of the student mid-stream would leave the seat vacant for the rest of the year.

The forum noted that there was no proof that the seat had remained vacant even after the admission was withdrawn. It noted that the sum paid in advance could not possibly have been used for the immediate academic year. A similar judgement was made in October 2016 by the consumer forum in Hyderabad.

A Supreme Court ruling in 2005 also directed the UGC to direct all educational institutions to not retain the original certificates nor demand fee for the entire course; instead the fee asked should be for one term only.

With this in mind, the court ordered the institution to repay the tution and exam fee of `1,81,250 for the three terms which the student didn’t attend. In addition another `1,05,000 was awarded as compensation.

Advocate Gouri Shankar said that in such scenarios parents must act fast in withdrawing the student from the course. “Legally parents can withdraw admission and get refunds if it’s done within a stipulated time of 15-30 days. If it exceeds the court may rule in favour of the institute because of the fact that they faced a loss due to the vacant seat.”