Charging capitation fee is a cognisable offence: Bill in Lok Sabha

A bill that makes charging of capitation fee by any medical or technical institute a cognisable offence and empowers police to arrest the erring administrators without warrant was introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and University Bill, 2010 was introduced by HRD minister Kapil Sibal amid din caused by opposition members over reported scam in 2G spectrum allocation and alleged involvement of telecom minister A Raja in it.

Sibal also introduced in the House the Educational Tribunal Bill, 2010 that provides for setting up specialised tribunals at the Centre and the states for adjudicating matters relating to disputes in educational institutions.

The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill, 2010, seeking to set up a body to assess and accredit every institution in higher education was also introduced. 

The prohibition of unfair practices bill seeks to classify malpractices into two categories. Charging capitation fee will
be a cognisable offence while other offences will be treated
as non-cognisable and attract some fine.

The civil offences will be adjudicated in the educational tribunals, while the cognisable offences will be dealt by courts.

At present, the fee structure in private engineering and medical colleges is fixed by a state-level committee headed by a retired high court judge. However, there are instances of many institutes charging fee higher than that suggested by the panel.

Certain institutes demand donations for admitting students and do not issue receipts for payments made by them. They give misleading advertisements in media with intent to cheat
students. They also withhold certificates and other documents
of students who want to quit the institute.
 
Certain institutes, which promise good quality education but do not deliver it, will face penalty under this new regulation.

"Capitation fee charged by any institute will be a cognisable offence. People will be prosecuted without fear and favour," Sibal had said after the bill was cleared by the cabinet.