In cases of fee refund, institutions must adhere to UGC guidelines and the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, ensuring fairness and justice in their actions.

ORDER

Dr. P.D. Shenoy, Member - Aggrieved by the order of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Maharashtra, dated 26th November 2007 in Appeal No. 1204 of 2007, Nipun Nagar (hereinafter referred to as the complainant) has filed this revision petition before us.

2. The facts of the case in brief are that the complainant had taken admission in Symbiosis Institute of International Business (in short the Institute ) for Masters Programme in Agri Business Management. Subsequently, he got admission in Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai. Therefore, he surrendered his seat and requested the Institute vide letter dated 2nd July, 2005 to return the fees to the tune of Rs. 1,10,000 deposited by him. The Institute returned only Rs. 10,000 on 18th July, 2005 and withheld the balance amount. Therefore, the complainant filed a complaint before the District Forum. The District Forum after hearing the parties dismissed the complaint. Dissatisfied by the Order of the District Forum, the complainant filed an appeal before the State Commission, which too was dismissed. Hence, this revision petition.

3. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that in the relevant academic session the Institute had admitted more students than the sanctioned strength under the general category. In the general category, sanctioned strength was 37 according to the prospectus and the intake was 41 out of which including the complainant, three students withdrew their candidature from the Institute. Hence, the Institute has not suffered any loss on account of cancellation of admission of the complainant. He further submitted that in reply to the legal notice dated 5th September, 2005 of the complainant the Institute never stated that it suffered any loss. The learned Counsel for the Institute submitted that there is no provision for mid term admission with the opposite party Institute and a seat which is rendered vacant after the commencement of the course, remains vacant for the complete academic batch, i.e., 2 years, in the present case, 2005-2007. In fact it has suffered total monetary loss of Rs. 2,25,000 (Rs. 62,500 towards 2nd Instalment of fees, Rs. 1,00,000 towards 3rd instalment of fee and Rs. 62,500 towards 4th instalment of fees) which the complainant is liable to pay to the opposite party. We have perused the prospectus of Masters Programme in Agri Business Management (MPABM) wherein it is indicated that the total number of approved seats was 50 and in the general category the sanctioned strength was 37 seats. As the sanctioned strength was 37 seats and, admission of 41 students is not controverted by the learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the Institute.

4. In view of this, it is very clear that the Institute had not suffered any loss because, no seats under the general category was kept vacant for the relevant year, secondly, UGC had received several complaints against various Colleges and Institutes about the un-healthy practices indulged by them in non-refunding the fees of the students, who had for some reason or the other had to discontinue/withdraw from the Institute and had secured admission in some other College/Institute. Therefore, UGC had issued a public notice, the extract of which is reproduced in extenso:

PUBLIC NOTICE

It has come to the notice of the University Grants Commission (UGC) that institutions and Universities including institutions Deemed to be Universities are admitting students to various programmes of studies long before the actual starting of academic session, collecting full fee from the admitted students, and, retaining their schools/institutions leaving certificate in original. The institutions and Universities are also reportedly confiscating the fee paid if a student fails to join by such dates.

The Commission is of the view that the institutions/Universities, by way of retaining the certificate in original, force retention of admitted students which limits the opportunities for the c