UGC asks universities to refund 100% fee in case of cancellation of admission till October 31

NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked universities to refund the entire fee in case of cancellation of admission or migration of students up to October 31, 2022, to avoid financial hardship being faced by parents due to Covid-19.

The commission has issued ‘the UGC guidelines on examination and academic calendar in view of the Covid-19 pandemic’ on July 16, 2021, wherein it has stipulated the provision of refund of fees on account of all cancellations of admissions or migrations of students during the academic session 2021-2022.

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According to the UGC refund policy, students will not get any refund in case they decide to apply for cancellation or migration after one-month from the start of the academic session.

Also, UGC on July 12, 2022, has requested the higher educational institutions to fix the last date of their undergraduate admission process after declaration of result of CBSE Class 12 results 2022 so as to provide sufficient time to such students for admission in UG courses.

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It may be noted that several entrance examinations including Common University Entrance Test (CUET 2022), Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Main 2022), JEE Advance etc. have been delayed, due to which admissions may continue up to October, 2022. The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conclude the CUET 2022 phase 2 on August 20 and the results are expected to be declared after 15 days. Meaning, by the time the admission process for the central universities conclude, the refund window will expire.

In view of this, the UGC in a letter said, “It has been decided by UGC that full refund of fees should be made by the higher educational institutions on account of all cancellations of admissions/ migrations of students up to October 31, 2022 for the academic session 2022-23 as a special case.”

It is made clear that the entire fee, including all charges, should be refunded. “Thereafter, on cancellation/ withdrawal of admissions up to December 31, 2022, the entire fee collected from a student should be refunded in full after deducting not more than Rs 1000 as processing fee,” it added.