Parent wins battle against school to get admission fee refunded

BENGALURU: This will cheer the parents of school-going children. The father of a four-year-old girl has won a legal battle against a Bengaluru school and got the fee refunded after his kid shifted out of the institution well before the academic session began.
Suryanarayanan Nagarajan admitted his daughter to New Horizon Public School, Indiranagar, in January 2014, and paid a fee of Rs 98,975.Later, he cancelled the admission as she secured seat in another school. He informed the school in a March 12 letter.
The school refused to refund the fee, citing a clause in its admission process.
The aggrieved father approached the consumer forum. Citing law, he argued the fee is refundable even one week after the classes begin. He said he had cancelled the admission early so that the school could fill that seat. Therefore, the school hasn’t incurred any loss, he contended.
Last week, the district consumer disputes redressal forum in Bengaluru (Urban) ruled in favour of Suryanarayanan. “Since the admission process was still going on, the opposition party (read school) can allot the said seat to some other student in the waiting list and there are no chances of the said seat to fall vacant. Since the school has not rendered any service, it cannot retain the amount... Refusal of refund of the fee amounts to unfair trade practice by the school,” the forum observed.
The school was asked to refund Rs 98,975 along with Rs 2,000 towards litigation charges within 30 days. If not, the school has to pay the amount with an annual interest of 6% from the day the complaint was filed to the day the issue is resolved.
Suryanarayanan had sought an additional Rs 50,000 for the mental agony he underwent.
“I know several parents who have had similar bitter experiences, but they all gave up. For me, the amount was too big to forgo. I knew the school stood no chance if I approached the court. I googled for the procedure,” Suryanarayan said.
“This is not the first school to do this. Most parents do not know how to get the money back. This should be an eye-opener for them,” he added.
School responds:
Chairman of New Horizon group of institutions Mohan Manghnani told TOI: “I was away. I do not know anything about the case.”
Repeated calls to the school principal elicited no response.