The Rajendra Babu-led Fee Regulatory Committee for medical education in Kerala has taken four self-financing colleges to task for purportedly collecting excess NRI fees from MBBS students.
The panel ordered four colleges, viz., Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Medical College, and Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, to return the fee that had been collected in excess to fee structure that was in force.
On the basis of complaints received from some students, the panel noted that the colleges had been collecting ₹20 lakh as NRI fees, as per provisionally fixed by the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) in July 2017. However, the AFRC later fixed the NRI fee as ₹18 lakh in October 2017 and had directed the colleges to appropriate the excess fee collected either to be refunded or adjusted towards the tuition fee for the remaining years, the panel stated in its order.
Taking serious note of the practice of collecting ₹20 lakh as fees, the committee stated that it shall be viewed as capitation fee collection, prompting initiation of action in accordance with the provisions of the law.
