IIT Bombay once again increases mess fees; Students demand roll back, opt-out option

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Bombay (IIT-B) has once again increased the Semester Mess Advance (SMA) fees for all the students. It has also cancelled the option to pay in two installments, the IIT Bombay students claimed.

For postgraduate (PG) students, the fees has been increased from Rs 25,200 to Rs 27,000 and for undergraduate (UG) students it has been increased from Rs 20,500 to Rs 22,500, according to spring semester 2023 circular, the statement by the Students against Fee Hike, IIT Bombay said.

Last semester, the students of the institution had protested against the IIT-B fee hike for a span of nine-months. Following which, the institute had partially rolled-back the fee hike. “Students Against Fee Hike, IIT Bombay had fought hard against the irrational increase in the SMA last semester, which was already added to the Hostels Amenities Fund component (1,800) separately in hostel fees and convinced the administration to restore it as its earlier amount,” the group said in a post on social media.

The option to pay fees in two installments was also an outcome of the protest against IIT Bombay fee-hike. The students group said that this option has proven helpful for students, especially for the economically underprivileged ones and “has reduced the financial burden put on the research scholars who are already struggling with increased inflation without any fellowship hike.”

Calling the increase in SMA fees “absurd, regressive”, the students said, “It also amounts to the administration going back on its own promise which was negotiated with the Students Against Fee Hike (SAFH) only some weeks back.”

The institute has also payment method to online through the ASC portal. Earlier, students used to pay the respective wardens of the hostel. The change in the paymethod method does not give students the option to opt out from the mess for a semester.

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“We believe that paying for mess-opt-out itself is preposterous and the rates are unintelligibly high.”

Condemning the decision, the students group demanded the institute to clarify the issue as soon as possible and roll back the fee-hike. They also demanded the option to opt-out of mess should be restored and the opt-out charges should be reduced on the portal as well.