UGC had specified in its guidelines for the academic calendar of 2020-21 that because of the pandemic, first-year undergraduate and postgraduate students and their parents were facing financial hardship and they should be charged no money for canceling admission up to December 31.
Higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) has warned institutions of action in case they do not offer full refunds to first-year students who are unable to join their courses because of financial hardship or any other reason amid the Covid-19 pandemic after receiving admission.
UGC sent out the warning after it was flooded with complaints that universities disregarding the guidelines set by the regulator. UGC had specified in its guidelines for the academic calendar of 2020-21 that because of the pandemic, first-year undergraduate and postgraduate students and their parents were facing financial hardship and they should be charged no money for canceling admission up to December 31.
In a letter dated December 17 to vice-chancellors of all universities, UGC secretary Rajnish Jain said the regulator had received scores of complaints and submissions claiming non-refund or partial refund by colleges of money they had already paid for admission.
To be crystal clear, the entire lees including all charges be refunded in totality (zero cancellation charges) on account of cancellation/ migration up to 31.12.2020. Thereafter, on cancellation/ withdrawal of admissions up to 31.12,2020, the entire fee collected from a student be refunded in full after a deduction of not more than Rs. 1,000 as processing fee
letter by Jain
Jain said the Commission had been receiving several references in the form of Right to Information applications, complaints, public grievances or court cases on non-refund of fees by universities/ institutions in violation of the UGC guidelines. T
The Commission has taken a very serious view of such complaints. Most of these complaints have come from the students who have taken admission in private or self-financing universities and deemed to be universities and later opted out for one or the other reasons
Jain
The UGC asked universities to ensure compliance with its directive, warning that they could face punitive action if they didn’t. Such action could include a recommendation for withdrawal of affiliation, withholding of grants, declaring a college or varsity ineligible for grants, or publishing a notice informing the public about violations.
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