Someone asked you to take admission in an unknown B school and you also without getting proper counseling or verifying the facts, approached to take admission and deposited your fee. In another situation you badly wanted to secure your MBA seat in a B school and had to deposit the fee but now got admission in IIM or some better B school. Now you are far from satisfied with the B school and are in a dilemma how to get the refund of your fee as the B school may not be entertaining your request for fee refund.
MBAUniverse.com has been receiving queries like “I have paid the 1st installment of admission fee but now I have got the call from one of the new IIMs and I wish to withdraw from this B school. How much amount can I get back”. While you are not aware how much of your deposited fee would be refunded by the B school in case of admission withdrawal, the management institute may also not be making the things clear and might be putting you to unnecessary harassment. AICTE has clear policy on fee refund and on your request the B school is supposed to refund the fee without any demur.
The worried B schools
It is not only you but also the B schools who are worried about admission withdrawals so they might be trying to advise you to hold on. In fact almost all the B schools even the top rated ones are going through a few daily withdrawal applications from the prospective MBA aspirants.
Many B schools are reluctant to refund fee to the withdrawing students despite laid down rules by AICTE. While some make lame excuses, some do not reveal their fee refund policy or pressurize the students not to withdraw by keeping their original certificates, degrees, transfer certificate with them. When the students demand for their original certificates, the refund is held back. Parents and students both are perplexed to see the high handedness of such B schools. They are afraid of approaching AICTE or HRD Ministry fearing lest the B school further puts pressure on them.
MBAUniverse.com brings a round of the specific rules to empower the aspirants in different situations of admission withdrawal with the amount that he/she can get back from the institute.
AICTE norms for fee refund
There are complaints on the issue of not getting the refund as per AICTE rules. Without naming the institutes, MBAUniverse.com is constrained to share with the Candidates that many institutes have not displayed the fee refund information on their site and are harassing the students asking for fee refund. Candidates are in a dilemma whom to approach in case of denial of fee refund by the respective B school.
Although all the B schools have their rules of giving the money back in case of admission withdrawal, AICTE has formulated a uniform set of rules which are supposed to be followed by all the AICTE approved management institutes. The B schools which do not run AICTE approved management programmes may have slightly different set of fee refund rules directed by the respective University, HRD Ministry but still AICTE can take action against them.
The B schools try to forfeit a good amount of fee in the name of one or other expenses which they classify as non refundable. Since AICTE is the regulatory authority, the amount of refund is supposed to be in accordance to its laid down norms. It is advisable to read and know how much amount of fee you would get back in case of admission withdrawal. With the recent decision of Honourable Supreme Court of India AICTE rules are to be followed in the B schools in case of withdrawal of admission.
Rules governing refund in case of admission withdrawal
Let us know our rights in case of admission withdrawal from a B school
- The reference for fee refund is made to AICTE Guidelines No. - AICTE / Legal / 04(01) / 2007, April 2007)
- Tuition fee, Development fee and other fee, charged by the institute will constitute the amount of total fee for refund after cancellation of admission secured through Common/Centralized Admission Process rounds, institute level round(s) and vacancy round(s) of admission
- The candidate, who has been provisionally admitted, may cancel admission by submitting an application for cancellation in duplicate, in the prescribed format as advised by the institute or available on its site and may request for refund of fee.
- The refund of fee as applicable shall be made within the time prescribed/due course by the institute.
- Refund can be applied by the candidates who have confirmed their admission by paying the prescribed tuition fee and other fees in full as demanded by the institute and by submitting the original documents, as desired by the institute.
The Refund amount
According to the AICTE rules and rules of different B schools, Refund should be made after deduction of only the cancellation/processing charges depending upon the time factor when the request is made.
| Situation of admission withdrawal |
Refund amount |
|
When the request is made before the date of start of the academic session and the institute could fill the seat before the cutoff date from the waitlisted candidates. |
Entire fee less by Rs 1000/-. The refund amount should include full amount of security, caution money also |
|
When the request is received on/after the beginning of academic session and the institute could fill the seat before the cutoff date from the waitlisted candidates. |
Entire fee less the Seat Cancellation Charges on pro rata basis. For calculation of pro-rata basis, 1 month shall be treated as 1 unit. For example if the candidate withdraws within a month after the start of academic session and the seat is filled before the cutoff date, the cancellation charges on pro rata basis will be the amount of total fee/12 or Rs.1000/-, whichever is higher. |
|
When the request is received before/after the start of the academic session and the institute could not fill the seat |
No Refund except security deposit shall be made |
|
Settlement of dispute |
Usually the court jurisdiction of the area where the B school is situated is to be exercised. For example if the dispute is with IIM Raipur, the jurisdiction area will be Raipur (Chhattisgarh) |
Still aggrieved: Whom to approach
-You can complain to AICTE. It has powers to direct the institutes under AICTE Act
-You can also complain to Ministry of HRD, Govt of India, New Delhi
-You may use RTI asking the b school as well as AICTE to clarify the situation as to why the refund is not made.
Tough Action by AICTE
In case of B school not refunding the fee amount as per the rules to the withdrawing student and on receipt of student’s complaint, AICTE can-
-Issue show cause notice to the institute
-Instruct the B school to give back the original documents of the student. (If retained)
- Initiate disciplinary action against the B schools
-Withdraw the approval granted to run the programme or course
-Stop admission in the course for 1 year
-Suspend the approval of supernumerary seats in the B school
-Impose penalty upon the institute upto twice the total fee collected from one student
Prudent decision needed
Although you can withdraw anytime from the B school where you do not wish to take admission and do not wish to study, it is always better to take a prudent decision before depositing the requisite fee. B schools where seats remain vacant are always in a hurry to highlight their USPs which may or may not exist with them so that you are more than convinced to immediately proceed to pay the demanded amount while final admission results of many B schools are still awaited.
The more reputed the B school, the more transparent will be the information on its site. Students from all the towns may face this situation. However this is the time factor that plays the most important role in getting your money back in case of withdrawal of admission.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on admission withdrawal fee refund
