Litmus test: Academics are unhappy at the prospect of students taking them to consumer courts

Postponed exams, unaffliliated institutes and courses ? they have become as commonplace as roadblocks in Calcutta. Be it a private college or your neighbourhood computer centre, there is no guarantee that you are going to pass out with a degree or diploma. For all you know, your alma mater may just fold up after the first semester or you may suddenly discover that it doesn’t have the affiliation you thought it did. But with limited job opportunities, students are usually tempted to enrol in such institutes to bolster their CVs. Yet, not many are aware that they can seek redressal too if they feel the institute is falling short of their expectations.

Curiously enough, a student is also a consumer in the same way a buyer of goods or service is, even though education doesn’t fall within the realm of service as per the Consumer Protection Act (COPRA), 1986. S/he can take a college or an institute to a consumer court on the grounds of deficiency in service or in “purveying of news or other information” which falls under Section 2() of the COPRA. Such complaints are entertained by consumer courts as the institutes provide services in exchange for money. So if an institute claims to have applied for affiliation to a university but actually hasn’t, a student is entitled to take it to court.

That’s what Bhupesh Khurana did. A student of a private college without affiliation, Khurana got admitted to the college on the basis of an assurance in the prospectus that the necessary approval from the university would come through in due course. After two years, he found out that the college hadn’t even sought affiliation from the authorities concerned. As a result, he was not registered as an examinee for the university exam. He went to a consumer court. The court directed the college to pay Khurana the money he had paid so far as fees along with interest and compensation. The court held, “Delay of two years in granting registration due to irregularities committed by the respondent (college) is a deficiency in service. So the complainant is entitled to a compensation”. Khurana was granted compensation as the college was guilty of withholding information that was tantamount to misrepresentation.

In fact, even a school student can lodge a complaint if he has reason to believe that the school has not delivered what it had promised in terms of facilities. If the prospectus says that students will be taught swimming and tennis, it must have a pool and a court and allow students to use them. Or else it runs the risk of being taken to a consumer court for deficiency in service. A parent recently threatened action against Delhi Public School (DPS) Megacity for apparently going back on its promise of providing tennis coaching. The matter was amicably settled but not before the school explained the reason for the delay.

The Act says: “Deficiency means any fault, shortcoming or inadequacy in quality, nature or manner of performance which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or has been undertaken to be performed by a person in pursuance of a contract? So if a school claims to have air-conditioned classrooms, like so many of them do, but the machines are not operated then it amounts to a breach of contract,” explains Tamal Roy, assistant director, directorate of consumer affairs, government of West Bengal.

But senior academics are unhappy at the prospect of students hauling them to consumer courts. The complaints must be heard and addressed within the institution, they contend. “Otherwise, students will keep running to the court at the drop of a hat and it will be even more difficult for us to manage things. Rather, students should use their rights as consumers to pull in line those private colleges that have sprouted everywhere and are making false promises. Those are the ones which are out to make money,” says Father P.C. Mathew, principal of St Xavier’s College.

Agrees M. Samuel, principal of DPS Megacity. “In our case, we were waiting for the racquets to arrive. So the courts couldn’t be used. But we explained to the parent that we had not mentioned any date for the coaching to commence. Had the matter been taken to court, it would have been a waste of time,” he says.

Even making a promise of placement can land an institute in trouble as a medical transcription school in Durgapur recently found out. It had advertised 100 per cent placement but folded up before completing the course. A complaint was filed at the Burdwan consumer court which held the school guilty of cheating and awarded each student a compensation of Rs 2,500 and a fees refund of Rs 24,000.

But such complaints at the consumer court are few and far between. “There is a lack of awareness,” says Basu. But with education increasingly becoming expensive and commercialised, perhaps it is time for students to see themselves as consumers.

the exception

You can’t drag a university to a consumer court for deficiency in services such as delays in conducting exams since it is constituted under a statutory enactment. “The National Commission,” says Prabir Basu, working president of the Bengal Federation of Consumer Organisations, “has made it clear that while conducting exams for candidates appearing for a degree course, the university is not rendering any service for consideration. Neither can a student seek compensation for cancellation of exams, delay in publishing results or for complaints regarding re-evaluation of papers.”