Some have taken an undertaking from students saying they will pay the increased fee when it is approved
The President of the Students’ Law Council, Sachin Pawar alleges that colleges are taking advantage, forcing students to pay more than they are allowed to, for admissions. Pic for representation
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Thanks to the delay in finalising the fee-structure, there is no uniformity in the fees charged by private law colleges in the city even as the academic year has begun. The fee hike remains undecided with the Shikshan Shulka Samiti, which finalises fee structures of higher education institutions. While in some colleges students have been made to give an undertaking at the time of admission that they will have to pay the increased fee for this year as and when it gets approved; some colleges are already charging a hiked amount.
At Devjibhai Hariya Law College in Thane, students had to give an undertaking in writing that they will pay the additional fee, once finalised from the Shikshan Shulka Samiti.
A student who took admission to this college said, “The college has first year fee of Rs 13,000 currently. But we were told that they have proposed a fee-hike and we were given admission under condition that we will pay the difference later. This is bizarre as in the middle of the academic year we will have to make arrangements for the additional amount.”
A trustee of the Devjibhai Hariya Law College, Shivcharan Anna, said, “We have taken this undertaking from students to avoid any issues. If the fee remains the same, then they will not have to pay.”
Rising fees
At D Y Patil Law College, this year, students were charged Rs 25,000 as opposed to Rs 20,000 last year. Vishal Nimbalkar, a student of D Y Patil College said, “This college charged Rs 12,500 for the first year when I took admission here three years ago. Next year it was hiked to Rs 20,000 and this year it is Rs 25,000. Students learnt of the hike only after reaching college to take admission.”
“In all educational institutions, students are expected to know the fee-structure before taking admission so that they can decide if they want to take admission there. But since there is so much chaos in law admissions, colleges are taking advantage forcing students to pay more than they are allowed to,” said Sachin Pawar, President of Students’ Law Council, who has also written a letter to education minister and chief minister regarding several issues in law admissions this year.
At CKT Law College in Khandeshwar, the first year’s fee is Rs 24,000 and at Lord College, Goregaon the fee is Rs 27,000. A student who took admission to CKT College said, “I finally got admission to this college in fourth round. There was no way for me to turn it down after waiting for admission so long. After I reached college I got to know that the fee has been hiked and it is Rs 27,000.”
Pawar added, “As proposals of fee hike remain pending at the Shikshan Shulka Samiti, as per last year’s regulations, private colleges are allowed a fee cap from Rs 8,000 to Rs 13,000. But most of the colleges have started charging hiked fee even as Shikshan Shulka Samiti has not approved it yet.”
Official speak
Chandrashekhar Oak, Commissioner of the CET Cell which conducted centralised admissions for law, said, “We do not decide or control fee decisions of colleges.”
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