The Uttarakhand High Court recently invalidated the retrospective implementation of a revised fee structure for students enrolled in the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) program at various Ayurveda colleges.
Students pursuing courses at these Ayurvedic colleges informed the Court that their tuition fees were increased in 2015 without any prior consultation with the Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC).
This violated the Uttarakhand Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Act, 2006, and such a unilateral fee hike was earlier set aside by the High Court in 2018.
Subsequently, in 2020, an appellate authority made the provisional revised fee, determined by the Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) in 2019, retrospectively applicable. The students argued that this action was also not permissible, submitting writ petitions between 2020 and 2024.
On January 8, Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari acknowledged the merit of these arguments, emphasizing that under Section 4 of the 2006 Act, the tuition fees for students in private unaided professional colleges can only be revised in accordance with the FRC's decisions.
He further stated that colleges are required to submit proposed fee structures to the FRC before each academic session. Once approved, these fees are fixed for a duration of three years. After this period, institutions may apply for a revision, but until then, the approved fees must remain unchanged, as per the Court's ruling.
“Every college, before commencement of academic session, will have to require before the committee (FRC), the proposed fee structure and the fee determined by the committee, shall be applicable for a period of three years and after expiry of three years, the college would be at liberty to apply for revision,” the January 8 ruling said.
The Court, therefore, annulled the retrospective fee hike.
The petitioner-students had pointed out that their colleges initially charged ₹80,500 as tuition fees, in accordance with a 2007 decision by the Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC). However, in 2015, the fee was unilaterally raised to ₹2,15,000. The High Court had set aside this increase in 2018, noting the lack of consultation with the FRC.
Subsequently, an interim fee structure determined by the FRC in 2019 was made retrospectively applicable to students who had joined the colleges from 2017 onwards. This decision was made by an appellate authority in 2020.
The students challenged this move, arguing that the revised fee determined in 2019 was provisional and explicitly applicable only to future academic sessions, specifically for 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22. Despite this, the colleges imposed the revised fees on students admitted in previous years, which they argued caused financial hardships.
The State defended the fee hike, arguing that the college fees had not been revised for a long time, making it difficult to run these institutions. The Court, however, rejected the State's argument, asserting that the retrospective application of the revised fee violated the 2006 Act and imposed an arbitrary and unlawful financial burden on students.
The Court further clarified that neither the State nor the management of private colleges had the authority to revise fees without consulting the FRC. By enforcing a retrospective fee hike, the appellate authority’s 2020 order violated the principles of fairness and statutory compliance.
Consequently, the Court ruled that the revised fees determined by the FRC in 2019 would apply only prospectively. It also instructed the concerned Ayurvedic colleges to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to students after collecting only the previously stipulated fees.
The petitioners were represented by Advocates Abhijay Negi, Vinod Tiwari, and Snigdha Tiwari.
Standing counsel Yogesh Chandra Tiwari represented the State.
Advocate Sandeep Kothari appeared for Uttarakhand Ayurvedic University. Advocate Vipul Sharma appeared for Dev Bhoomi Medical College of Ayurveda and Hospital. Advocate Navneet Kaushik appeared for Om Group of College, Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital and Research Centre. Advocate Aditya Pratap Singh appeared for Motherhood Ayurved Medical College.
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