Because of the uncertainty surrounding higher education entrance examinations, many students are expected to take admission in an institution even before these entrance examinations are conducted. This might also result in quite a refund requests once these exams are conducted and students take admission in a different institution. COVID-19 has not spared any sector, and education sector is one of the worst hit as has been noted in our earlier stories. In an earlier article, the many factors at play when it comes to re-opening of educational institutions like accessibility, employment, disease preventive measures, etc. was discussed. While some states conducted the 12 boards with precautions and modifications in the examination pattern, other states have either cancelled or postponed it indefinitely. CBSE and ICSE have cancelled the pending 12 board examinations because of the concern over the safety of students. Marks will be calculated on the basis of their internal performance in the academic year. COVID-19 has resulted in an uncertain situation for parents and students For now, exams like JEE Mains, and NEET stand postponed. The HRD Minister tweeted that JEE Main Examination would be held between 01 and 06 September 2020 and JEE advanced on 27 September 2020. The NEET entrance for medicine has been rescheduled for 13 September 2020. Most of the top ranked institutions in the government as well as private sector admit students based on the results in these tests. Because of the cancellation of board examinations, there is a looming uncertainty over the conduct of various entrance examinations both at the national & state level. Parents & students are concerned about this long uncertainty. This uncertainty is being exploited by certain private institutions as there are instances where parents are pressurized into booking seats by paying token amount under the pretext that entrance exams may be cancelled, and seats may soon get filled up due to large demand. The staff in private institutions are also under the pressure to fill the seats as their salaries are tied to admissions and students paying up. UGC came up with regulations on fee refund and certificate collection following receipt of many complaints Suppose a student wishes to change college after taking admission, they are entitled to refund as per the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s notification released in 2018. The then HRD Minister, Prakash Javadekar stated that students faced several problems during admissions because of coercive and profiteering institutional practices being adopted by some institutions. The UGC came up with the notification for fee refunds and non-retention of original certificates at the time of admission following the receipt of a large number of complaints regarding the same. Sections 12 (d) and 12 (j) of the UGC Act, 1956 empower the UGC to issue such a notification. All universities recognized by UGC including deemed to be universities must abide by this notification for all programs- undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs. These rules also apply to colleges affiliated to various universities. The same is applicable to institutions under AICTE. But what does the UGC notification on refunds say? Here are some details. Purchase of prospectus must not be mandatory First and foremost, the purchase of institutional prospectus should not be made mandatory for applicants at any time. It should be left as a personal choice. Institutions should disclose details such as status of institution, affiliation, accreditation, physical assets and amenities, course wise sanctioned intake of students, types of fees payable and total fees for each programme, admission deadlines, faculty details, management member details, and all other information that students and parents require to make a fully informed choice. Fees for only one semester/year can be charged The institutions can charge fees in advance only for the semester or year for which student is to take part in academic activities. Collection of fees for the entire programme of study in advance is prohibited. Students are entitled to refund depending on the point of time of withdrawal notice If a student wishes to withdraw from the programme in which they had enrolled, the following the refund scheme is to be followed depending on the point of time when they give notice of withdrawal of admission to the institution. Money collected as caution deposit and security deposit should be fully refunded. The refund should be made to the applicant within 15 days upon receiving the withdrawal application. One can also approach the consumer court if the refund is denied.