Ahmedabad students left in lurch as institute refuses to refund fees

Nearly 50 students of RB Institute of Management, Bapunagar, are in a fix as the college is refusing to refund their money they had paid at the time of admission but later transferred to other colleges. To add to their woes, the college is also allegedly refusing to return the academic testimonials the students had submitted at the time of admission.

"We had paid around Rs20,500 as fees and were assured by the college authorities that in case we need to cancel our admission, they would refund or transfer the money. However, they now refuse to abide by what they had promised. We have complained to the Fee Regulation Committee (FRC) and Gujarat Technological University (GTU), but nothing has happened,'' said a student, on the condition of anonymity.

According to official sources, students of engineering and pharmacy of other colleges are also facing the same problem. GTU in-charge controller of examinations, Dr GP Vadodaria, said:  "Till the second round of admissions, such problems fall under the GTU. However, once the vacant seats are declared, this problem of fee transfer is between the students and the particular institute. We have received nearly 100 applications of such transfer cases which include, MBA, MCA, engineering and pharmacy and they are being looked into."

GTU vice chancellor Dr Akshai Aggarwal said, "In such cases, we slap a notice on the particular institute asking them to refund the students' money. Hence, we had also sent a notice to RB Institute asking them to return the money and documents to the students. However, if the institute does not abide by it, then the students must complete first semester and then again apply for transfer."
Vadodaria claimed that officials of RB Institute had come to visit GTU V-C. However, Aggarwal said that, "Nobody has come from RB Institute to meet me with regards to these students."