In a recent order, the consumer court has asked GARODIA ACADEMY school in Ghatkopar to return the money taken in advance against tuition fees along with the interest and compensation for two years to the parents who moved their children out of the institute before the commencement of the academic year.
Nehal Desai, parent of Riwa, 6, and Heer, 4, won the case against Garodia’s Academy, a pre-school coaching institute. Desai had paid Rs15,000 as half-yearly advance fee for senior KG for Riwa andRs29,000 against an annual fee for Heer’s lower KG. Both the amounts were paid in March-April 2007 for the academic year beginning June 2007.
However, in May, Desai, for some reason, had to change schools. The school refused to refund the entire money when the parents asked for the same. A couple of letters to the principal later, the school returned the deposit money without disbursing the cheque for the advance fees. After repeated attempts, the parent moved the consumer court with the help of a relative, Prakash Seth, and won the case.
“The so-called good schools exploit the improper proportion between the number of students and the number of good schools. I hope this judgement will come as a breather against such malpractices of city schools,” said Seth. The court not only asked the school to return the fee amount along with slapping an interest of 9% since the court case was filed. The court has also imposed a compensation of Rs5,000.
According to Brian Fernandes, a representative of the school management, parents go around hunting among three to four schools. Once they secure admission to one school, they pay off the fees and continue with their search. “Despite that, in genuine cases, we have returned the fee. We have also produced the document to the court. In the present instance, we have returned the amount that parents paid as a deposit.”
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