AICTE has amended the rules for fee refund for the academic session of 2020-21, and it has also postponed the fee payment due dates because of the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the fatal Covid-19 virus.

The recent academic calendar released by AICTE for the session 2020-21 states that even a new candidate can apply for a fee refund till 5^th August 2020. It also says that the applicant will get the amount back within seven days from the submission date of application to the college.

AICTE has also issued guidelines for the fee payments, postponing deadlines, the continuance of scholarships and internships and also regarding examinations. In the guidelines issued by AICTE, the colleges or the institutions cannot pressurize students to pay the fee until the nationwide lockdown has been lifted and the situation has been normalized.

It was also mentioned that strict actions would be taken if the institutions do not abide by the guidelines during the lockdown.

Three important guidelines by AICTE for academic session 2020-21

• The business schools can start their regular academic session online with regular online classes and can later shift to the physical classroom mode once the notification has been issued by MHRD.
• The colleges and institutions are not allowed to hike fee during the academic session 2020-21, and they are not allowed to insist the students pay their fee until the lockdown has been removed and the situation has come back to normalcy.
• If the institutions were not able to conduct the final examination for the first-year students for academic session 2019-20 prior to the lockdown, then UGC guidelines issued on 29th April 2020 must be pursued to check the mode of examination and promotion to the higher classes.

Important dates for fee refund

AICTE is extremely strict about the fee refund norms, and it has advised the institutions to strictly follow the AICTE schedule for fee refund. The important dates for the fee refund are:

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) works under Ministry of HRD, Government of India, it controls the MBA/PGDM and the technical education in India.

AICTE revised and changed its policies on fee refund after receiving the complaints that most of the MBA/PGDM colleges are not refunding the fee to the students as per the norms and are creating problems for the students if they refuse to take admission in the college of the claim for fee refund.

What does the AICTE fee refund policy clarify?

The AICTE fee refund policy issued for the MBA or other professional courses tells you about the amount of money of the fee deposited by you could be refunded by the MBA/PGDM college at different stages after the deduction of a few charges as per the AICTE norms for fee refund.

Who is the policy meant for?

This policy is for those students who have already paid the fees for their MBA admission but want to submit their admission fee refund application for they do not want to study, or they have got admission in a better MBA college.

B-Schools cannot refuse your fee refund claim

AICTE fee refund policy is applicable in two scenarios:

1. You wish to withdraw from the MBA/PGDM institute in which you do not wish to study, or
2. You wish to switch to a better B-School than your present B-school

The B-school might hesitate in refunding your fee, but you must refer to the AICTE fee refund policy and go ahead will your fee refund claim for your admission fee which you have paid to the B-School.

Though the top tier B-Schools strictly abide by the AICTE norms, the second and third-tier MBA school hesitate to refund your fee, because they want full intake and thus try to persuade the candidate to continue with their school.

Fee Components that are refunded as per the AICTE rules

AICTE has included the following clauses in chapter IV of the Approval Process Handbook governing the fee rules.

• The reference for fee refund is done to AICTE Guidelines No. – AICTE / Legal / 04(01) / 2007, April 2007)
• After the cancellation of admission secured through common/centralized admission process rounds, institute level rounds or vacancy rounds of admission, the total amount of fee for a refund will constitute of tuition fee, development fee and any other type of fee charged by the institute.
• The candidate who was provisionally admitted can cancel the admission by submitting an application for cancellation in the prescribed format as recommended by the institute and may request for fee refund.
• The fee refund as applicable by the policies may be made within the prescribed time by the institution.
• A refund can also be applied by the candidates who confirmed their admission by paying the prescribed tuition fees and submission of original documents.

Last date to apply for fee refund extended from 30th June

As the nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus has been extended, AICTE has further gotten strict with its fee refund policies for MBA/PGDM B-schools to refund the fee for session 2020-21.

The AICTE fee refund policy strictly directs the MBA/PGDM colleges as per the clause 6.13 of chapter 6 of AICTE Approval Handbook 2020-21.

• The MBA/PGDM institutions shall now allow the submission of application by the admitted students for withdrawal or fee refund. The extended last date to submit the application shall be announced after the nationwide lockdown has been lifted.
• The process of refunding the fee as well returning of the certificates should be completed within a period of 7 days.

Stage wise Fee Refund amount approved by AICTE

As per the AICTE fee refund rules and the rules of the different B schools, the refund must be made immediately after the deduction of only the cancellation charges depending on the time factor as and when the request is made.

Fee Refund Application

In order to claim the MBA fee refund, you will have to write the admission fee refund application in a prescribed format. It could be the token amount that you have deposited to the B-School to secure your admission.

The guidelines of AICTE require only the key information to be included in the MBA fee refund. The fee refund claim format for MBA is quite the same as most of the MBA colleges except for a few changes specified by the respective B-school.

The obligation to provide the prescribed format as per the AICTE fee refund policy for the fee refund application lies on the part of B-schools. The fee refund policy is mostly the same for all the institutions apart from the slightly different fee refund claim format with its name printed in it.

Institutes are prohibited from pressurizing students

AICTE fee refund policies clearly state that the institutes cannot pressurize the students who do not wish to study in the particular institute to facilitate the refund of the fee within 7days from the submission date of application.

The prescribed format could be found at the AICTE site, or some institution has taken the initiative to cooperate with the students and provide the prescribed format to the students easily.

Fee Refund Claim Format

The prescribed format for the fee refund claim for the MBA/PGDM institutes has been shared below. Also, cross-check it with the institute once in case they have some other format for fee refund.

Application for withdrawal of admission: Session 2020-21

To,                                                                                           Date:

The Director/Dean

____________     

Res Sir,

I secured admission to ___________ (name of the course vis PGDM/MBA) in your institute on ___________(Date of admission).  I would like to cancel it for the following reasons: ___________________________________(Write the reason)

Name of the candidate: Ms/Mr___________________________________(IN BLOCK LETTERS)                 Surname                     Name

Regn number (Applicable exam like CAT/XAT/CMAT/GMAT/MAT/others) ______________________________

Residential Address(As registered)__________________________________

Mob number:_______________email____________________

Fee paid Rs.____________(In words)__________________________

I am enclosing the copy of fee receipt no._____ dated_______ Amount_____

I am returning my I- card in original (If issued by the B school) Number_________

I am also returning other documents/material provided to me by the institute

1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________

(Strike out whichever is not applicable)

Kindly direct the concerned to return my original documents and refund the MBA/PGDM fee paid as per the AICTE rules.

Thanking You,

Yours faithfully,

_________________

(Signature of the candidate)

(Name of the candidate)

Acknowledgement of Claim from the Institute

When you’re submitting the fee refund application in person, make sure to get the fee refund application acknowledged by an authorized person at the institute under his signature, date and stamp of the institute so that you could provide a valid proof that you submitted the request or the institute might throw away your application in the garbage.

If you send the fee refund application by registered/speed post/courier, make sure to keep a copy of the written application along with the courier receipt as evidence. If you send the MBA fee refund claim by courier, then request the courier service to provide you with the proof of delivery of the courier.

Also, send an email to the institute for the fee refund claim and make sure to send a copy of that to AICTE as well.

After receiving a fee refund

Once you have received your fee refund, you have to send an acknowledgement to the institute on receipt of fee refund cheque or demand draft and the original documents.

If the fee refund is not received within 7 days

• You must write the correct reason for your withdrawal of admission from the institute and no college can pressurize you into writing a false reason of fee refund as it wants.
• Make sure to send a reminder to the institute and also AICTE in case the fee refund has not been received in 7 days; this will help you to fasten the process of fee refund.
• In case, you still are not able to get the refund, write immediately to AICTE & MHRD explaining the delay in the refund. You can also ask for compensation if the institute has not refunded your money within seven days.
• You must write your complaint to AICTE and MHRD as they can direct the institutions under the AICTE act.
• You may write RTI to the institute asking about the delay in the fee refund process.

Action taken by AICTE if the B-school fails to pay the fee refund

In case the B-school does not adhere to the rules set by the AICTE for fee refund policy, then AICTE can take the following actions:

• Issue the show cause notice in the name of the institute.
• Direct the institute to return the original documents of the student if retained by the institute.
• Forge disciplinary action against the institute.
• Withdraw the approval required to run the course.
• Prohibit admission in the course for a year.
• Suspend the approval of supernumerary seats of the institute.
• Impose the penalty on the B-school of twice the amount of fee collected from the student.

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