UGC reminds Universities to follow Fee Refund Guidelines, promises strict action in case of breach

UGC have asked all the universities to follow Fee refund guidelines. And the commission has also restricted the submission of original documents.

By Kristina Das | Updated: December 14, 2016 1:35 PM IST

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After several grievances from the students and as well as from the parents, the University Grant Commission (UGC) has decided to work on the issues like submission of original documents and fee refund. The commission has released an official notification a few days back related to these issues. ‘Remittance and refund of fees and other student-centric Issues’ is the header of the notification and the commission has mentioned in the notification that this was approved by the Commission in its 519th meeting held on November 15. The official notification is available on the official website.

According to an official, the UGC has taken a serious view of these matters which have been brought to its notice by students and other stakeholders and will take strict action against universities and their affiliated/constituent colleges breaching the provisions of this notification.

None of the educational institutions can make it mandatory for students to purchase a prospectus; they will have to offer them a full refund if admission is canceled by the student within 15 days.

Only for the semester or year in which a student is to engage in academic activities, institutions can charge a fee in advance only otherwise it is prohibited. Collecting advance fees for the entire program of study or for more than one semester/year in which a student is enrolled is strictly prohibited as it restricts the student from exercising other options of enrolment elsewhere.

Taking the certificates and testimonials into institutional custody under any circumstances or pretexts is strictly prohibited.

All universities shall mandatorily constitute a “Grievance Redressal Committee” (GRC) mandated by UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations 2012 to address and effectively resolve complaints, representations,and grievances related to any of the issues mentioned in this notification, among others articulated in the regulations. The GRC shall do all it takes to ensure that its departments and affiliated colleges unfailingly comply with all the instructions articulated in this notification.

These rules will come into effect from the next academic year. And, these rules will be applicable to Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Research Programs run by all statutory universities recognized by UGC under Section 2 (f) of UGC Act, together with all colleges under their affiliating domain and institutions declared as deemed to be universities under Section 3 of the UGC Act.