Excess fee: HC tells panel to look into MBBS student's complaint

The High Court of Karnataka has directed the Fee Regulatory Committee to look into the complaint of an MBBS student who said she was forced to surrender her seat as the Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangaluru, demanded excess fee.

The committee is the competent authority to look into such complaints as per the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006.

A division bench of Justices Jayant M Patel and P S Dinesh Kumar gave the direction after hearing a letter by the father of the student, Sahana. The bench directed the Department of Medical Education (DME) and the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) to compile the complaint made by the student on October 17, 2016. It also directed the committee to complete the enquiry by February 7, 2017, and submit its report to the DME and the KEA before February 10, 2017.

In her complaint letter to the KEA, Sahana stated that she was forced to withdraw her admission as the college demanded a fee of Rs 5-6 lakh every year. She could not meet the demand and decided to surrender her admission, she added.

“In our prima facie view, the attempt on the part of the college management if considered in the light of complaint made by the student, it can be termed as not only unethical but would also result into demand of more fees and there by compelling the student to surrender the admission which would also be against the standards to be maintained by any medical college in the field of education (sic),” the bench observed.