Refund of school fees in case of admission cancellation

AParent1 2014-03-25 00:07:26

 

One more information which I saw : The case can be lodged against the institution within two years of the incident.

JB2010 2014-03-25 15:18:45

 

The problem is if the child has a sibling and the poor parent in future will again apply to all these schools, then the schools will have their revenge. :-(

mommy2011 2014-03-28 18:22:02

 

Aparent1,  You have raised a very good point. I went thru some of the links above....and want to thank you, that this has given me atleast hope of getting my money or atleast some of it back. Unfortunately, in the receipt I have received from the school, it clearly says "No refund" and this school has taken the entire year's fees in one go. There are still 2.5 months for the next acad year, and really they should refund the money back!! The seat that we  vacate will be easily taken by someone..plus they will surely make money by making it "available".  Before going the consumer court, we should talk to the schools and see what they are saying abt refund !! Did you talk to the school.....are they denying the refund??

AParent1 2014-03-28 23:30:55

 

Hi mommy2011,

Even for my school it says "No refund" for admission fees. I met the principal, told him my side of the story. He said you have signed the undertaking which says "No refund". I said yes , I signed but since my child is not going to attend a single day I think this rule should not apply. He said , thats the policy, we do not refund. I argued for some time but he did not budge, I said fine you refund what you can and I will talk to the lawyer. I mentioned him all about Vibgyor and St. Mathews school and a directive for Directorate of Education  mentioning the same. After some time he said I will see if I can ask management to refund full fee but do not promise :) . I took a sign from him on the "Admission cancellation application" which I had given.

I would say if you have made your mind, then talk to them. Puchne me kya jaata hai ! Otherwise I can give you number of a lawyer who had fought the case against St. Mathews and won ! He told me that my case is strong. So you can ask him too. Perhaps a legal notice from the lawyer would also help as it has done in this case : http://www.parentree.in/Blogs/13967-refund-of-school-fees-in-case-of-cancellation-of-admission . I am trying to get in touch with this person as well.

I think most schools would not like to go to Consumer forum since their reputation is at stake, so a legal notice would solve your problem. I would suggest talking to school as early as possible and taking action, since if its delayed it would be of no help. If school has told you clearly about not refunding then talk to lawyer, send notice.

Do let us know your response, it will help all the parents.

Thanks and Regards.

AParent1 2014-03-28 23:32:19

 

Also would request you to take a printout of the above links to show it to the school. Tell them cases were resolved in 1 year and school had to refund fees along with interest and extra money for legal and mental harassment.

mommy2011 2014-03-29 01:39:54

 

Thanks for the prompt reply and explanation! I will take it up next week and keep you posted!! thanks!!

aanushkaa 2014-03-30 21:16:45

 

@mommy2011, @AParent1
'
Hi! Are you trying refund from specific school in Pune. Can you please tell me if the school prospectus mentions 'No Refund' , do we 
get the benefit of refund. If yes how do we approach the school for refund in case they deny.

Thanks in advance.

AParent1 2014-03-31 01:17:09

 

Hi ,aanushkaa

Yes the prospectus/receipt mentions "No refund" but as I said earlier, I approached the staff, explained my side of story. Told them that if my child does not attend a single day why should the fees be not refunded. Every school initially denies and will tell you its non-refundable, its signed m, its their policy blah blah.... Show them print out of the links I sent, tell them it has happened in case of Vibgyor, St. Mathews, DAV etc. Tell them its a ruling from Consumer forum and school need to abide by that. If they do not agree, tell them you will send a legal notice and them they need to pay the fees back along with refund and legal expenses , and their reputation is at stake since such news is always there on newspaper and forums. 

Here are some link regarding DoE : http://www.edudel.nic.in/upload_2013_14/12810_20_dt_18122013.pdf
http://www.consumerlaw.in/nursery-school-admissions-fees-refund-circular-by-doe/
http://zeenews.india.com/news/delhi/delhi-govt-asks-schools-to-refund-fees-if-admission-cancelled_68...

Next option is to go to lawyer and send them a legal notice and I think you should get your money back.Else file a case in consumer forum. 

One of the lawyer who had fought case against St. Mathews , M. Nilesh Bhandari can help you in this case. You can get his number by searching on net. http://www.dnaindia.com/pune/report-consumer-forum-asks-school-in-pune-to-refund-rs43000-fee-to-parent-1794305

Keep us posted !

JB2010 2014-03-31 11:41:11

 

Here is a scenario:
1. I want to apply for School A, B and C and want to choose School A.
2. But admission happens first for School B. I do not want to miss that seat, so I pay the fees.
3. I try in School A and my child gets admission there too.  I prefer School A over School B. School B has a "No refund" policy mentioned on the challan and prospectus.

Am I still entitled to refund?

AParent1 2014-03-31 14:10:25

 

Hi JB2010,

I would say why not ? Unless we talk to the school they are not going to refund .

Please read and take printout of these links :
http://www.dnaindia.com/pune/report-consumer-forum-asks-school-to-refund-fee-1863239
 -- From the total Rs 92,000 paid by Saraf, Rs 40,000 has been deducted as admission fee which is non-refundable as mentioned in the admission form.â€

http://www.dnaindia.com/pune/report-consumer-forum-asks-school-in-pune-to-refund-rs43000-fee-to-parent-1794305
-- When Vyas took admission in March 2011, he was informed about the norms and fee refund.

As mentioned in the links, even those schools has non-refundable policy.
Show this to school, tell them that this has been the case earlier and Consumer forum has asked schools to refund. Also take printout of earlier links which I have pasted mentioning the directive given by DoE.

If it does not work, talk to the lawyer, I have mentioned one of them who had fought the case against St. Mathews. You can call a couple of lawyers and ask them their fees - to send legal notice and fight your case if needed. I think just legal notice should suffice. If your child is not attending a single day in that school why you should not get refund ?

Keep up posted.

mommy2011 2014-03-31 22:01:42

 

JB2010 - This is a very common scenario. I think, If we are asking for a refund...what does the school have to do with why I want to cancel the admission ? If we want to discontinue and don't attend a single day...how can we owe them the entire year's fee? Plus the vacant seat will get filled very soon. This is really very unfair. I really liked Aparent1's initiative.

AParent1 2014-03-31 23:14:56

 

Hi,

I am not sure if both of you are complaining about the same school :) if thats the case then your case becomes stronger and easy to fight too ! You can send private message to each other and share school name , maybe that can help . 

I think we need to fight and take this to next level if school is very adamant. 

I found out one more case where the donation was asked to be refunded : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/131225/news-current-affairs/article/consumer-forum-tells-school-return-fees

BTW my school is in Kothrud !

aanushkaa 2014-04-01 14:50:32

 

 @AParent1

Hi! Thanks for your reply. Actually the school has said that they may refund the amount but not talked about the percentage
and had asked to come to a later date for process.
Are they entitled to give the whole percent of fees or deduct some amount.

aanushkaa 2014-04-01 14:53:09

 

@JB2010

Hi! You also looking for refund of fees from specific school.

JB2010 2014-04-01 15:05:37

 

My daughter got admission in another school. (1st choice school). So now I need to writed to 2nd choice school on cancelling her admission. Wondering how to word the letter. :-)

mommy2011 2014-04-01 17:28:29

 

@JB2010 - Just write to the point and mention clearly about getting a refund.

@aanushka - They will certainly not refund 100% only by simply asking them....I am also in the same process and I guess my school mentioned that they would be refunding about 80%

@Aparent1 - I am thinking that even 70-80% refund is quite a bit....looking at the current schools and their trends of minting money! I will be happy if I really manage to get that much back!!   I will keep you guys updated....what happens with my case...

AParent1 2014-04-01 17:49:36

 

I do not mind if school keeps 2K-4K . If that is equal to 70-80% than its perfect !

mommy2011 2014-04-01 18:08:46

 

@Aparent1   :) :) In the current admission world such lower fees is an impossible scenario :)

Shiv07 2014-04-01 18:25:18

 

If a state board school...the fees are very less...even some of the established ICSE schools fee structure is very economical...but in case of new n upcoming schools who r out to make money thru their  admission procedure....things turn ugly....All the Best!

mommy2011 2014-04-02 17:11:40

 

Shiv - That's what I thought initially....but many of the SSC schools and even some ICSE schools that I checked, the fees are around 50-60K. Looks like they have also caught up with the others...though I agree are still reasonable than many new ones.

AParent1 2014-08-05 12:48:03

 

Hi All,

Haven't heard from anyone ... has anyone got refund of so called "Non-refundable" admission fees or any other such fee ?

Thanks.

JB2010 2014-08-07 12:18:27

 

I actually got a refund of the admission fees. People should just give an application to that school. In the prospectus it was mentioned that feess is non-refundable, but the school refunded most of the money without any question. :-)

AParent1 2014-08-07 17:04:37

 

Hi JB2010,

Which it that school ?

Chet2 2019-12-25 15:11:29

 

Very informative post. Thank you for sharing this.