Larger Bench of NCDRC To Examine Whether Student Of An Institution Is A 'Consumer' Or Not

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has referred the question whether a "student" of an educational institution is a "consumer" (as defined in the Consumer Protection Act of 1986) or not to its larger bench of three members for examination.

Bench of R.K.Agrawal and M.Shreesha in a hearing of the matter (Manu Solanki & Others v. Vinayaka Mission University) before them on 8th of May opined that it would be appropriate if the controversy involved in the complaints before it is decided by Larger Bench of the Commission.

The matters before the Redressal Commission were filed by two batches of students against the Vinayaka Mission University, which has been held guilty by the Madras High Court (upheld by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in (2012) 4 SCC 190) of misrepresenting to these MBBS aspirants on the count of Vinayaka Mission's "off shore campus" being affiliated to Thailand university, resulting in these 21 students who had paid crores of Rupees being stranded as 12th Standard Students, even after 7-8 years of commencing their course. Students were represented by Advocate Harish Vaidyanathan.

Based on an Order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of P.T. Koshy Vs. Ellen Charitable Trust, which Order was based on the Judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Maharishi Dayanand University Vs. Surjeet Kaur (2010) 11 SCC 159 and also on the Judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Bihar School Examination Board Vs. Suresh Prasad Sinha (2009) 8 SCC 483, Benches of the NCDRC have held that a student of an educational institution is not a "consumer" as defined in the Consumer Protection Act since an Educational Institution does not provide a "Service" as defined under the act. As a result of this, students have lost the benefit of a cost-effective forum for Redressal of their grievances.

Some of these complainants are still re-paying education loans, some have suffered rejection of marriage proposals and a number of them are still "students" trying to get a degree from somewhere to make something of their lives. The next date for hearing has been fixed for the 17th of this month. 

Read the Order Here