Barely 10 per cent of India's 90 million university-age citizens go to college. Many, squeezed out by the public education
system, end up us grist for private degree mills. Several are duped by fly-by-night operators. There is help now.
The Supreme Court has ruled that students are consumers and educational institutes service providers and "making bogus claims
amounts to deficiency of service and entitles students to compensation under the Consumer Protection Act". The ruling came in
a case where students were cheated when a dental college falsely claimed in an advertisement that it was affiliated to the
Magadh University and the Dental Council of India.
The court directed the bogus Buddhist Mission Dental College in Bihar to pay Rs 22 lakh as combined compensation to 11
students who lost two academic years by joining the institute and paying a hefty capitation fee.
Judges Dalveer Bhandari and H S Bedi ruled, "We are of the opinion that the appellant institute by giving totally misleading
and false advertisement clearly misled the respondents (students)". The bench upheld the Consumer Grievance Redressal
Commission order against the college. Dismissing the college's appeal, the judges said the compensation of Rs 2 lakh would be
in addition to the Rs 30,000 penalty imposed by the consumer panel.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
.png)
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.