Coaching Institutes Refund ?1 Crore to 656+ UPSC, JEE, NEET, and CAT Aspirants: Consumer Affairs
The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has facilitated a refund of ?1 crore to 656 coaching students and aspirants of various competitive exams, including UPSC Civil Services and IIT entrance, after raising grievances to the official helpline, the government center said on Sunday.
Increase in complaints from coaching students
There has been an increase in complaints from coaching students. Students from CA coaching, NEET coaching, UPSC coaching, and UPSC IAS coaching have complained. A total of 16,276 coaching students have raised complaints regarding unfair practices by coaching institutes.
According to the reports, the NCH received 16,276 grievances from 2023 to 2024, 5,351 from 2022 to 2023, and 4,815 from 2021 to 2022.In 2024, the NCH received 6,980 grievances at a pre-litigation stage from students.
Refund success story
In Bangalore, one of the students took a loan of ?3.5 lakhs for admission to a management program offered by an institute in Lucknow. Due to the delay in commencement, the student reached out for a refund, but after multiple tries, he didn't get the refund. Due to the loan EMI, the student approached NCH for a refund, and NCH granted the refund.
Similarly, in Gujarat, another student was granted rupees 8.36 lakhs for enrollment.
Students can register their grievances by calling the toll-free number 1915 or making a complaint on the portal consumerhelpline.gov.in. The central government stated that necessary actions can be taken against coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices by the Consumer Protection regulator CCPA section.
Follow PlanEdu for more educational updates
