Malla Reddy College Fined Rs 1 Lakh For Withholding Student Certificates
The Commission noted that the management’s conduct caused severe mental agony to the student. It directed the college to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation and Rs 10,000 towards court costs within 45 days.
Hyderabad: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-I levied a fine of Rs 1.10 lakh on Malla Reddy Engineering College for harassing and withholding a former student's original certificates, demanding additional fees to retrieve the same.
As per reports, Rakesh Varma’s son from Nampally joined the B.Tech AI & Machine Learning course at the Malla Reddy Engineering College Maisammaguda campus in October 2021. He paid Rs 80,000 as the first-year tuition fee. At the time of admission, the college staff took his Class 10 and Intermediate original certificates as per requirement.
Due to severe financial difficulties, the student could not continue his studies after completing the first semester. When he and his father approached the college to retrieve the original certificates, the management demanded an additional Rs 80,000 in fees, which he could not pay, and as a result, the student lost four academic years.
He approached the Consumer Commission in September last year. After receiving the Commission’s notice, the Malla Reddy College management returned the certificates and requested dismissal of the case.
The Commission noted that the management’s conduct caused severe mental agony to the student and directed the college to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation and Rs 10,000 towards court costs within 45 days, failing which the amount must be paid with 9% interest.