UGC Seeks Action Over Fee Refunds by 82 Tamil Nadu Colleges

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approached governors across the country, seeking their intervention over the continued failure of several universities and colleges to refund fees to students who cancelled or withdrew their admissions despite existing regulatory guidelines.

In Tamil Nadu, 150 complaints involving 82 higher education institutions have been reported, covering admissions cancelled between the academic years 2021–22 and 2025–26, according to details of the UGC communication reported by The Times of India. The fees paid by the students ranged from ₹2,535 to ₹4 lakh, raising concerns over the financial burden on students awaiting refunds.

In a demi-official letter dated October 7, UGC Secretary Prof. Shyama Rath sought the intervention of governors' offices after repeated attempts to secure compliance from the institutions concerned failed to resolve the grievances. The letter was published on the commission's official website on October 16.

The communication, addressed to principal secretaries to governors across states and Union territories, said the commission had forwarded student complaints to institutions, conducted consultations and followed up through written correspondence and telephone calls. However, several universities and affiliated colleges had allegedly continued to disregard its directions.

Rath said the commission's efforts had not produced the expected results, observing that institutions continued to disregard the guidelines despite repeated communication.

The UGC also warned that prolonged delays and refusal to return fees were affecting students' rights and the credibility of the higher education system.

The regulator has requested governors' offices to intervene, ensure compliance with the existing fee-refund framework and issue appropriate directions cautioning institutions against further violations.

The latest communication follows an earlier UGC letter dated July 3, 2025, indicating that the commission has been pursuing unresolved fee-refund complaints for more than a year.

What do UGC's fee-refund rules provide?

Under the UGC's fee-refund policy issued on June 12, 2024, higher education institutions were required to provide a full refund for admissions cancelled or withdrawn on or before September 30, 2024. For withdrawals made up to October 31, 2024, institutions could deduct a processing fee not exceeding ₹1,000.

The commission subsequently clarified in October 2025 that the 2024–25 policy would continue for subsequent academic sessions until revised, with October 31, 2025, specified as the cut-off for the 2025–26 session. It also instructed institutions to resolve older complaints according to the refund rules applicable to the respective admission years.

For admission schedules extending beyond the prescribed deadlines, the UGC's October 2018 notification provides a separate refund structure. Depending on when an institution receives a withdrawal request relative to its officially notified last admission date, students may qualify for refunds of 100%, 90%, 80% or 50%. The policy provides no fee refund for withdrawals made more than 30 days after that date.

The regulations apply to central and state universities, deemed-to-be universities, recognised private universities and affiliated colleges. Institutions cannot override the applicable UGC requirements through conflicting provisions in their admission prospectuses.

Under the UGC's 2018 notification, institutions found violating fee-refund rules may face regulatory action, including withholding of grants or recommendations for withdrawal of affiliation. Such action is subject to the institution being given an opportunity to be heard.

The UGC's Redressal of Grievances of Students Regulations, 2023, also recognise delays or denial of eligible fee refunds as grounds for student grievances.

The issue has previously reached the courts. In January 2026, the Madras High Court directed Rajalakshmi Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu to refund ₹1 lakh to a student who had withdrawn from an undergraduate programme in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy ordered the institution to return the amount within six weeks after finding that the student was entitled to a full refund under the applicable policy.

That judgment concerned a separate dispute and does not establish whether the institution is among those identified in the UGC's latest complaint records.

Students facing similar difficulties can approach their institution's grievance redressal mechanism or register complaints through the UGC's e-Samadhan portal.

The commission's latest appeal to governors highlights an unresolved enforcement problem: despite successive refund policies and repeated regulatory reminders, students continue to report difficulties recovering fees after withdrawing from higher education institutions.