A district consumer commission in Thane has ordered a coaching centre for admission to IITs with its office at Andheri to refund Rs. 1 lakh to the parent of a student who had enrolled for a two-year JEE Mains course in 2017 but dropped out after attending 20 days of classes as he had found the teaching fast-paced.
The student’s father Damoder Kunder approached the commission in 2019. He complained that he had paid Rs. 3.71 lakhs for the two-year JEE Mains synchronised advanced course in advance, but his son had to discontinue the classes after attending it for 20 days. The coaching centre, he said, after repeated emails and visits refunded only Rs. 2.11 lakhs out of the amount. He contended that his son had to discontinue the classes as he found them too fast-paced and that the students did not get an opportunity to clarify their doubts. Kunder said his son started feeling tense and pressurised due to the classes and developed fever and headaches, thus they decided to discontinue the classes for his health reasons.
The Airoli-resident had claimed a full refund, with compensation of Rs. 1 lakh and also litigation costs.
The commission said that the complainant has not explained what exactly he means by ‘fast-paced’ teaching by the centre. Therefore, it said that it understands the averments as, the student being unable to cope with the syllabus being taught and the method of teaching being very fast.
In the judgment, Commission President RG Wankhede said that even the commission is of the opinion that for 20 days of classes, the amount deducted by the centre was on the higher side and therefore, opined that it had indulged in unfair trade practice. It, however, refused to direct a full refund and pointed out that besides coaching charges of 20 days, the centre would have provided books and course material to Kunder’s son, which he has not made any mention of in his complaint.
The commission noted that it issued a notice to the coaching centre PACE IITian’s Education Pvt. Ltd. and its managing director, but they did not appear before it.
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