Supreme Court sets aside AP govt's order to increase MBBS fees by sevenfold

While setting aside the government order of Andhra Pradesh to increase MBBS fees by sevenfold, the apex court has said that education is not a business to earn profit.

Supreme Court has set aside the Andhra Pradesh government order to increase MBBS fees by sevenfold which makes it INR 24 lakh per annum and directed the colleges to refund the amount collected in excess of the fees last fixed by the state government in 2011.

“Education is not the business to earn profit. The tuition fee shall always be affordable," said a bench of justices MR Shah and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

The top court agreed with the conclusion made by the high court and said, “to enhance the fee to INR 24 lakh per annum, i.e., seven times more than the fee fixed earlier was not justifiable at all,” as reported by Hindustan Times.

The bench said that the state government order is “wholly impermissible and most arbitrary and the hike was done only with a view to favour or oblige the private medical colleges.”

“Any enhancement of the tuition fee without the recommendation of the AFRC shall be contrary to the decision of this court in case of P.A Inamdar in 2005 and the relevant provisions of the 2006 AFRC Rules (prevailing in the state). The high court has rightly quashed and set aside the GO dated September 6, 2017,” said the bench.

The top court said, “Determination of fee/review of fee shall be within the parameters of the fixation rules and shall have the direct nexus on the factors mentioned in Rule 4 of the 2006 Rules...the state government enhanced the tuition fee at an exorbitant rate of INR 24 lakh per annum, almost seven times the tuition fee notified for the previous block period.”

Medical colleges to refund the excess fees

The high court said that the medical colleges cannot take benefit of the unjust enrichment in fees that was wrongly increased and asked the colleges to refund the students after adjusting the amounts payable under the earlier fee structure recommended by AFRC and issued in June 2011.

The SC bench upheld this part of the high court order and said, “the medical colleges are the beneficiaries of the illegal GO which is rightly set aside by the high court.” 

“The management cannot be permitted to retain the amount recovered or collected pursuant to the illegal GO,” it held. 

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