BENGALURU: The Karnataka Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) has written to multiple government departments, highlighting repeated complaints from students across medical, engineering, and allied professional courses about private colleges demanding excess fees or insisting on payment of the entire course fee upfront at the time of admission.
In separate letters to the Departments of Health and Family Welfare, Medical Education, and Higher Education, FRC chairman Justice B Sreenivase Gowda said many of these complaints, though widespread, lacked basic details such as the student’s name, parent or guardian information, course enrolled, college name, or fee specified in the KEA allotment letter. This, he said, makes it difficult for the committee to formally enquire into them or grant relief.
In a letter to the Health Department, FRC said it had received complaints from students joining courses such as ayurveda, unani, naturopathy, yoga, and homoeopathy. To address this, FRC recommended that future consensual agreements with private medical college associations should include a clear clause allowing aggrieved students to approach FRC for redressal. It also suggested that such agreements be mandatorily published on the websites of both the associations and the government.
In the letter to the Department of Medical Education, FRC responded to complaints against a college in Mangaluru. Students had alleged overcharging, but their copies submitted to the CM, Medical Education Minister, and others did not include details like KEA seat category, fee mentioned in the admission order, or the quantum of excess amount being demanded. “In the absence of these particulars, FRC cannot inquire into the said complaints,” Justice Gowda wrote.