FRA warns colleges to stick to upper limit of fees, not demand more

“All the colleges are directed to take note that demanding or charging fees more than the fees prescribed by the authority amounts to violation of provision of the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulations of Admissions and Fees) Act 2015 and liable for penal action,” states the notice, directing colleges not to demand fees more than the fees prescribed by the authority. The notice dated November 10 also appeals to candidates and parents to lodge complaints if any college is demanding more fees.

The notice, according to parents, brings clarity on fees, especially in case of management quota seats for UG courses “where there was no separate upper-limit until now as management and NRI were all under one umbrella”, said Sudha Shenoy, one of the actively involved parents in medical admissions. She added that several students and parents had approached the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell this year with fee-related complaints.

Admission on seats under management and NRI quota were brought under the Common Admission Process (CAP), this year, as instructed by the NMC. Accordingly, seat allotment was done centrally by the CET Cell. “But when students reached the allotted college to confirm admission; many were denied on the smallest of technicalities. This led to doubts on whether the colleges wanted to keep those seats empty for a favourable candidate because a centrally allotted candidate will not have to pay more than the prescribed fee-limit,” added Shenoy.

The FRA, in its notice referred to a letter received from the Maharashtra CET Cell requesting the authority to publish the course-wise maximum fees that can be charged by the unaided colleges from the students securing admissions under the management or NRI quota.