New Delhi [India], Oct 10 (ANI): Providing a huge relief to students at the higher education level, the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a notification which stated that no Higher Education Institution can retain the original certificates of the applicants before the admission is confirmed.

The notification also stated that the institutions will also have to refund the fees (the whole or a part of it) in case the student decides to withdraw their name, and can charge only up to Rs. 5000 as the procession fees.

Addressing the press in the national capital, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar said, "We receive lot complaints every year regarding admissions, so in order to make it easy for the students they will not have to submit any of their original documents before the admission is confirmed. As the merit list changes, and the applicant has full right to switch to a better college"

According to the notification, the students would not be required to submit any original academic and personal certificates like mark sheets, school leaving certificates, etc., at the time of submission of admission form. In case required, the institution concerned will only ensure verification of the same with the original certificates and these certificates shall be returned to the students immediately. No institution can take any original certificate into their custody.

The HRD minister further announced that the students would get a full refund of fees if they withdraw their names 15 days prior to the formally notified last date of admission. Not more than five percent of the fees paid by the student, subject to a maximum of Rs. 5000, will be deducted as processing charges.

"On the name of procession fees, the college sometimes takes a lot of money but from today they cannot do that and hold only 5000 rupees on the name of procession fees," he added.

The students would get a 90 per cent refund in case they withdraw their name within 15 days before the last date of admission, and 80 per cent within 15 days after the last date of admission. The students would get a 50 per cent refund if they withdraw their names between 16 to 30 days.

Understanding the perspective of the colleges, the UGC decided that after 30 days students won't be eligible for a refund. But, the entire caution money and security deposit, which are not part of the fees chargeable, shall be refunded in full. The refund of fees shall be made by the Higher Education Institutions within 15 days of receipt of a written application from a student.

The notification will be applicable Under-Graduate, Post-Graduate and Research Programmes run by universities included under the Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956 and all colleges under their affiliating domain and institutions declared as deemed to be universities under Section 3 of the same act.

Javadekar further asserted that the UGC will come out with regulations soon, "UGC will come out with regulations soon. Hope students will get justice. This is for college and higher education. If colleges do not follow the rules then they will be penalised. Private universities also regulated by UGC."

The institutions can charge the students only for the semester or year for which they want to engage in academic activities. They cannot charge the student for the entire programme. There will no compulsion for the applicants to purchase the institutional prospectus at any time during the course of the time of the study.

All the institutions will have to disclose the information regarding the status of the institutions, its affiliating, accreditation status, physical assets and amenities, course-wise sanctioned intake of students, various types of fees payable for different programmes, total fees payable for an entire programme, last date of admission, details of faculty, members of Governing Bodies and minutes of the meeting of bodies, etc.. on their website as well as the prospectus.

It will be mandatory for the institutions to have Grievance Redressal Mechanism according to the provisions of the UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012; it should be available on the website too. And, it should ensure that matters are addressed within 30 days.

The institutions failing to comply with the aforementioned regulation will be subjected to strict actions by the UGC including, withdrawal of declaration of fitness to receive grants from UGC, withholding the grants allocated to the institution, declaration of the institution as ineligible to receive any assistance from UGC for General or Special Programmes, recommending to the Central Government for withdrawal of deemed to be university declaration, in case of an institution deemed to be university, etc. (ANI)