'Coaching centres should not act like money-making machines'

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: A Consumer Commission while ruling in favour of students seeking refund of fee has said that “coaching institutions should not act like money collection machines without keeping in mind the feelings and future prospects of the student.”

While ordering the return of Rs 42,000 fee paid by a student who dropped out of the coaching institute as she did not find it as promised, the Commission also ordered payment of Rs10,000 “compensation for the mental agony and harassment” and another Rs.10,000 towards litigation cost.

Swathi, a resident of Bengaluru had approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission with the complaint against Gate Indian Institute of Tutorials. She had joined the tutorials along with her friend after checking the details on their website. The two were preparing for the NTA UGC NET exams. They paid Rs 42,000 as fees on March 5, 2021.

They attended the classes but “both the students found themselves uncomfortable with the teaching methods/skills and attitude of the faculties in (the) institute. They were also dissatisfied with the nonfulfillment of promised relevant amenities for preparation of the examination”. The students decided to withdraw from the course and demanded a refund on March 8, 2021. But the institute refused to repay. Following this, Swathi approached the Consumer Commission.

The Commission in its order said, “The student may not be comfortable with the teaching methods/skills and attitude of some of the teachers at the coaching centers. In case the student leaves in between or mid session or after attending few days or months she/he should not be denied refund of the fee for the remaining period, which he/she did not attend.” The Commission said that the students should be able to join other institutes of their choice.

“If the student is given a refund he/she can pay the said amount to some other educational institute where he/she wants to pursue coaching or education. The student is not supposed to pay another hefty amount to another coaching institute after leaving the OP institute. The parents may not be in a position to afford another heavy fee of another coaching institute and the student will be deprived of precious opportunity and formative years of career building. In case the fee is refunded the student can further move on with that amount to explore much better avenues of education as per her desire,” the order said.

Citing from an earlier order of a Consumer Commission in Chandigarh, the Commission said, “In our opinion, educational institutes should be prudent, desist from charging upfront fees for the entire course, and if they do, should not refuse a refund. A student or a trainee may leave midstream if he finds the service deficient, substandard and non-yielding, and to tell him that fees once paid are not refundable was an unfair trade practice, as no service provider can take or charge the consideration of the service which it has either not given or has not been availed.”