Education society fined for fraudulent 'government approval' claim

The Mumbai suburban district's additional consumer disputes redressal forum has penalised the Siddhi Education Society in Kanjurmarg for fraudulent claim of government approval for its diploma course in fashion designing

The forum has asked the society to refund Rs20,000 tuition fees paid by a student, along with 10 percent interest on the amount from 2013. It also asked the society to pay an additional Rs20,000 for mental agony caused and Rs5,000 towards cost of litigation.

Harshada Raut, a resident of Kalwa, complained to the forum that she came across an advertisement of Siddhi Education Society in a daily newspaper and read about the one-year diploma course in fashion designing offered by the society for a reasonable fee of Rs20,000. The advertisement also said that it was a government-approved course.

Raut, who had completed her studies up to class 12, said she thought the course would help her get gainful employment and she enrolled at the Dadar branch.

The forum stated in its order: "It is the complainant's contention that the society did not complete the course in time. Most of the aspects were taught orally. The complete training in embroidery was not imparted. The place of instruction was changed frequently. Moreover, the certificate issued by the society was not accepted by the authorities wherever the complainant sought employment."

In 2013, Raut realised that the institute was not approved by the government, due to which the certificate of the society was not useful. The society did not reply to a notice from the panel.