Uttarakhand High Court strikes down retrospective fee hike in Ayurveda colleges

The Uttarakhand High Court recently quashed the retrospective application of a revised fee structure for Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) students admitted to various Ayurveda colleges [Bindiya Khatri and ors Vs State of Uttarakhand & ors]..Students undergoing courses at these Ayurvedic colleges had told the Court that their tuition fee was initially hiked in 2015 without any 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. Later, a provisional revised fee determined by the FRC in 2019 was made retrospectively applicable in 2020 by an appellate authority. This too was not permissible, the students contended in writ petitions filed between 2020 and 2024. .On January 8, Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari found merit in these submissions, noting that under Section 4 of the 2006 Act, the tuition fees for students in private unaided professional colleges can only be revised in line with the decisions of the FRC.He added that colleges must submit proposed fee structures to the FRC before each academic session. Once set, these fees are fixed for three years. After this period, institutions may apply for a revision, but until then, the approved fees would remain unchanged, the Court said.“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, quashed the retrospective fee hike..The petitioner-students before the Court had highlighted that their colleges initially charged ₹80,500 as tuition fees, in line with a 2007 decision of the FRC.In 2015, it was later unilaterally raised to ₹2,15,000. However, the High Court set aside this decision in 2018, since there was no consultation with the FRC. Thereafter, an interim fee determined by the FRC in 2019 was made retrospectively applicable to students who had joined the colleges earlier (2017 onwards). This decision was taken by an appellate authority in 2020. The students challenged this, arguing that the revised fee determined in 2019 was provisional and expressly applicable only to future academic sessions, namely for the years 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22. Despite this, the colleges imposed the revised fees on students admitted in earlier years, which they argued created financial hardships for them.The State defended the fee hike, arguing that the college fees had not been revised for a long time, which was making it difficult to run these institutions. .The Court rejected the State's stance, holding that the retrospective application of the revised fee contravened the 2006 Act and amounted to an arbitrary and unlawful financial burden on students.The Court held that neither the State nor the management of the private colleges had the authority to revise fees without involving the FRC. By enforcing a retrospective fee hike, the appellate authority’s order of January 2020 violated the principles of fairness and statutory compliance, the Court said. .Accordingly, the Court directed that the revised fees determined by the FRC in 2019 would only apply prospectively.It also directed 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..[Read order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.