GUWAHATI: The Union Minister for HRD Prakash Javadekar held a press conference in New Delhi on October 10.
While interacting with the media Javadekar informed that University Grants Commission (UGC) will issue a notification on refund of fees and non-retention of original certificates by institutions to facilitate students in their admission.
The UGC has stated that the notification is an effort to help students who have been facing problems during admissions due to coercive and profiteering institutional practices.
Salient features of the Notification are as below-
This notification will aid the students seeking admission to higher educational institutions in the following manner:
The HEIs can charge fees in advance only for the semester/ year in which a student wants to engage in academic activities. Collecting advance fees for the entire programme of study is strictly prohibited.
The institute will be required to refund the fees, in case a student withdraws from the programme, in the following manner:
1. 100%: in case a student decides to withdraw 15 days or more before the formally notified last date of admission. Not more than 5% of the fees paid by the student, subject to a maximum of Rs. 5000, will be deducted as processing charges.
2. 90%: in case a student decides to withdraw within 15 days before the formally notified last date of admission.
3. 80%: in case a student decides to withdraw within 15 days after the formally notified last date of admission.
4. 50%: in case a student decides to withdraw between 16 days and 30 days after the formally notified last date of admission.
5. NIL: in case a student decides to withdraw after 30 days of the formally notified last date of admission.
The entire caution money and security deposit, which are not part of the fees chargeable, shall be refunded in full.
Refund of fees shall be made by the HEIs within 15 days of receipt of a written application from a student.
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No student will be required to submit any original academic and personal certificates like marksheets, school leaving certificates, etc., at the time of submission of admission form. In case required, the institution concerned will only ensure verification of the same with the original certificates and these certificates shall be returned to the students immediately.No institution can take any original certificate into their custody.
No HEI can make it mandatory for applicants to purchase the institutional prospectus at any time during the course of the time of study.
All HEIs will be required to disclose on their website and prospectus the information regarding the status of the institutions, its affiliating, accreditation status, physical assets and amenities, course-wise sanctioned intake of students, various types of fees payable for different programmes, total fees payable for an entire programme, last date of admission, details of faculty, members of Governing Bodies and minutes of the meeting of bodies, sources of income, financial situation and any other information about its functioning, necessary for an applicant to make a fully informed choice.
All HEIs will be mandatorily required to have a Grievance Redressal Mechanism (GRM), according to the provisions of the UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012. This GRM shall be available on HEI website and the HEIs will be required to ensure that all grievance received are addressed within 30 days.
