A private coaching academy was directed by the District Consumer Forum to compensate three students for falsely advertising itself as a government-recognised course provider. The students lost an academic year as a result.
Acting president SB Dhumal and member Bhavana Pisal directed Chate International Academy Private Limited to pay Rs40,000 each to Vivek Dubey, Sachin Kadam and Nilesh Pisal towards mental agony and litigation charges.
As per the plaint filed by the three, the academy had published an advertisement stating that it conducted a Diploma in Shipping Management affiliated to the Bharat Sevak Samaj, a national development agency promoted by the government of India. The advertisement not only carried this information, but also used the national emblem.
The Centre subsequently published a clarification stating the academy was not affiliated to it. By then, the three students had made their initial payments of Rs 2,86,000; the rest of the fee was going to be raised through education loans. But, this did not materialise, and they thus sought a reimbursement.
Though the forum agreed that action should be taken against the academy under the Emblems and Names Act, 1950, it refrained from initiating it. Instead it directed the academy to refund the fees paid with interest thereon at the rate of 12% from the time the three had made the payments.
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