Plea by AYUSH colleges for 5 x fees from mgmt quota students junked

Plea by AYUSH colleges for 5 x fees from mgmt quota students junked 

FRA Dubs Association’s Demand As Unjust, Improper & Contrary To Law

Yogita.Rao@timesofindia.com 03.12.2024 

Mumbai : The state’s Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA) rejected a demand made by the association of managements of AYUSH colleges to charge five times the regular fees from students admitted under the management quota, regardless of whether the student is an NRI or a non-NRI. The association’s demand was endorsed by the Maharashtra govt in a letter written to the authority in Sep, where it mentioned that it had no objection to allowing the institutes to charge higher fees. 

The FRA, however, mentioned that the claims made by the association, that they are unable to run the colleges from the income generated by the fees approved by the authority, are “unjust, improper and contrary to law”. In a detailed order, concluding that the association’s demand does not deserve any consideration, the FRA mentioned that the fees of each institute are based upon its income and expenditure, and the evidence produced in support of the provisions. “No institute can be permitted to indulge in the act of profiteering by allowing to charge exorbitant and excessive fees,” it stated. The proposal from the association came soon after the FRA decided to cap the caution money for AYUSH courses at Rs 25,000. The authority also mentioned that they came across several complaints from students about colleges allegedly demanding higher fees than the ones prescribed and approved by the FRA.

In their complaints, the students, who were allotted seats by the state’s CET cell, alleged that colleges demanded five times the regular fees at the time of admission. Some students even complained of colleges denying admissions for the same. “There appears to be some oblique  motive in raising such demand by some of the institutes to cover up their act of collecting fees more than the ones approved by the authority,” mentioned the FRA. 

Citing a 2018 order, the FRA mentioned that the association running AYUSH colleges cannot demand a different fee structure in comparison to institutions running other health science courses. The FRA said that the association did not produce any material to reconsider its earlier decision even in 2018, and therefore the request made by them cannot be entertained now. Additionally, it also pointed out that the process of approval of fee structures for 2024-25 commenced in Oct 2023 and the fees were already decided. Currently, the FRA allows colleges to charge three times the fees from students admitted under the management quota and five times from students who are admitted under NRI quota.