Kerala High Court directs Private medical colleges to not collect next year’s fee in advance – Education News
Collecting annual fees from students for the next year in advance when the previous year’s studies have not been completed by an institution would amount to “profiteering”, the Kerala High Court has held and restrained private medical colleges in the state from collecting fees for any academic year other than the one which was being taught.
The high court, however, made it clear that its directions were to operate only in the peculiar situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic when instructions being imparted for a particular year in medical colleges could not be completed in the specified time due to the virus outbreak.
A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Mohammed Nias C P said that conceptually fees were payment for a service rendered and if it is collected for a future period, it would be a payment for services yet to be rendered and in such a situation, ‘the educational institutions would then be resorting to profiteering”. “The COVID pandemic, without doubt, brought about an unusual or exceptional situation fraught with financial implications. The exceptional situation, however, affected not only the educational institutions but also the student community and their financier guardians,” the court said.
“We feel it would be unreasonable on the part of the private medical educational institutions concerned to demand the determined fees, unmindful of the difficulties faced by the students,” the bench said.
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