Centre facilitates refund of over INR 1 crore to students of various coaching centres

NEW DELHI — The government of Sunday said it has facilitated a refund of more than INR 1 crore to affected students from the total demanded refund of INR 2.39 crore till date, who raised unfair practices by various coaching centres, especially related to refund of their enrolment fees.

Among those, over 656 aspirants and students of various coaching Institutes of UPSC Civil Services, IIT, medical entrance, CA and management courses claimed refund from coaching centres/private institutions by registering their grievance on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH).

These aspirants/students faced issues such as unfulfilled promises, inadequate teaching quality and abrupt cancellations of courses.

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) said it has successfully intervened at a pre-litigation stage to ensure justice for students and aspirants who enrolled for the UPSC Civil Services, IIT and other entrance examinations.

“This action reaffirms our commitment to ensure that coaching institutions adhere to fair practices and honour the rights of consumers,” said Nidhi Khare, Secretary of DoCA.

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She emphasised that coaching institutes must present facts truthfully and honestly by clearly and prominently disclosing important information so that consumers can not only notice it easily but also take more informed choice.

Khare also underscored the significance of consumer rights and the responsibility of advertisers to ensure they provide accurate information.

Data revealed that during a short span of 12 months (2023-2024), 16,276 students reached out to NCH, once their requests were declined/rejected/ not specifically redressed to their satisfaction by coaching centres.

The total numbers of grievances registered by the students in the year 2021-2022 were 4,815, followed by 5,351 in year 2022-2023 and 16,276 in 2023-2024.

In 2024, 6,980 students have already reached out to NCH for speedy redressal of their grievances at a pre litigation stage.

This increase reflects growing confidence and trust of students in NCH as an effective grievance redressal mechanism before opting to knock at the door of consumer commissions, said the DoCA.

All the refunds were processed promptly at a pre-litigation stage after the intervention of the department to the affected students from all corners of the country who raised their grievances claiming their refunds against the coaching centres offering classes for “UPSC Civil Services”, “JEE advance”, medical entrance, CA exams and other courses.