Student can
seek refund even if fees are non-refundable
The Supreme Court, in the Bihar School
Examination Board vs Suresh Prasad Sinha case, held that a student was not a
consumer. This decision was given in respect of conduct of exams by boards and
universities. In course of time, relying on this judgment but forgetting the
context in which it was rendered, it was held that a student could not file a
consumer complaint for deficiency in services by educational institutions.
Now,
through a landmark ruling, the Maharashtra state commission has differentiated
between services rendered by educational institutions, and conducting of exams
by boards and universities.
Case
Study: Chitralekha Bendke had two children who secured admission to Seven
Square Academy . The requisite fees of Rs 7,800 per child were also paid. Due
to medical reasons, she applied for cancellation of admission and refund of
fees. As refund was not given, she filed a complaint before the Thane District
Forum, which ordered the fees to be refunded.
The
school appealed aga inst this order, contending that the consumer complaint was
not maintainable since imparting of education could not be termed a service and
a student could not be considered a consumer. The school also challenged the
maintainability of the complaint against it inste ad of against the Trust which
ran the school.
The
state commission differentiated between imparting of education by educational
institutions and conducting of exams. It observed that the complaint was in
respect of non-refund of fees, and not about conducting examinations. There
were several judgments, including a five-member bench judg ment of the National
Commission in the case of Bhupesh Khurana &Ors. vs Vishwa Buddha Parishad,
where it was held that imparting of education by educational institutions for
consideration falls within the ambit of service. So complaints about deficiency
in service in respect of non-refund of fees, running of courses without
recognition or affiliation, etc. would be maintainable before consumer fora.
The
commission observed that the receipt for fees paid by Bendke was issued by the
school and not by the Trust. Hence the complaint against the school was held to
be maintainable.
On
merits, the commission observed that the fees were paid in January , and
request for refund was made within a few days, well before commencement of the
academic year in June. There was ample time to fill up the seats which had
fallen vacant. The school had also failed to produce any documentary evidence
to show that the cancelled admission had resulted in the seats remaining vacant
for the academic year.
The
commission observed that even though it is a known fact that there are more
candidates than available seats. edu cational institutions generally take a
false plea that the cancelled seat remained vacant. Admitting another candidate
without refunding the fees of a student who has withdrawn results in double
enrichment.Such institutes have become commercial shops, and there cannot be
any worse form of unscrupulous and unfair trade practice in the field of education.
The objective of the Consumer Protection Act is to curb such practices where
students and their parents are exploited.
Accordingly
, by its judgment of July 1, delivered by judicial member Ushal Thakare for the
bench along with Dhanraj Khamatkar, the Maharashtra state commission concluded
that a clause stating that fees once paid shall not be refunded is
unconscionable and void, as a service provider cannot retain the money when no
service has been rendered. The school's appeal was rejected.
Impact:A
student can seek a refund even if receipt states that fees are non-refundablem
Source | Times of India | 1 August 2016
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
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