Direct private medical colleges to refund excess fee: Karnataka Admission Overseeing Committee tells RGUHS

Bengaluru: Months after assurance of charging right fee by private medical colleges, the Government of Karnataka has been recommended by the Admission Overseeing Committee to direct Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) to communicate to the concerned medical colleges to refund excess fee collected from MBBS students along with six per cent interest.

The committee, headed by Justice B Manohar issued an order recommending the state government to direct RUGHS to intimate private medical colleges regarding the refund of excess fee.

This came following the complaints filed by a few parents of the students who had sought admission in two medical colleges including JJM Medical College in the academic year 2017-18. The complaint stated that the medical colleges collected excess fee over and above the specified amount.

The tuition fee prescribed for MBBS students under government quota during 2017-18 was Rs 77,500. However, the medical colleges collected excess fee between Rs 70,000 and Rs 3 lakh. The documents furnished by the medical colleges before the committee confirmed that they collected the excess fee. The excess fee was collected under various titles, including tuition fee, university fee, hostel and mess fee.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the MBBS students in the state would be able to breathe a sigh of relief as the Admission Overseeing Committee constituted by the state government had shown its determination to ensure that private medical colleges charge only the right fee. Moreover, it would ensure that excess fee if any charged by the medical colleges were rightfully returned to the students.

The order issued by the committee in this regard quotes;

“The committee recommends to the government to direct Rajiv Gandhi University Health Sciences to order for refund of sum collected from students with 6% interest, failing which the university may be directed to impose a fine of twice the amount collected, make necessary recommendations to the competent authority for withdrawal of recognition and affiliation granted to the colleges and take necessary action under the provisions of the (Prohibition of Capitation Fee) Act, 1984, and the Karnataka Education Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006.”

Besides, the committee had also pitched against the colleges for collecting an additional Rs 1.13 lakh as the clinical fee by candidates for institutional seats. The fee was allegedly collected by the college as the students had to utilise the facilities in the district government hospital. The college had asked the medical students to bear the cost for this.

Recently, speaking to Deccan Herald, one of the committee members stated that not many complaints have come up for the academic year 2018-19.

“As the fee regulatory committee existed during the 2018-19 academic year and the fee was fixed by the committee, colleges were also careful and did not invite trouble by collecting the excess fee,” one of the members of the committee told Deccan Herald.