20. Students as consumer of the College

Under the Consumer Protection Act, definition of deficiency in service is as under :

`Deficiency' means any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of performance which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or has been undertaken to be performed by a person in pursuance of a contract or otherwise in relation to any service.

In CIVIL APPEAL NO.1135 of 2001 Buddhist Mission DentalCollege & Hospital v. Bhupesh Khurana & Others decided by Supreme Court (Hon. Dalveer Bhandari and Hon. H.S. Bedi, JJ.) on 13/02/2009, the respondent/students took admission in BDS course on the basis of advertisement by the college that it is affiliated to Magadh University and recognized by Dental Council of India. After several months they came to know that the claim made by the appellant/college to the respondents in the advertisement as well as in the prospectus was false, because the appellant college was neither affiliated to the Magadh University nor it was recognized by the Dental Council of India. Their complaint was allowed by the Consumer Commission .

The Commission came to the conclusion that this was a case of total misrepresentation on behalf of the institute which tantamounts to unfair trade practice. The respondents were admitted to the BDS Course for receiving education for consideration by the appellant college which was neither affiliated nor recognized for imparting education. This clearly falls within the purview of deficiency as defined in the Consumer Protection Act, which defines the `deficiency' as under:

Dismissing the appeal of the college, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the Commission and even granted additional reliefs. The supreme court passed the following orders:

“ (i) The respondents (complainants) would be entitled to the compensation as directed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. In case the amount has been deposited, the respondents would be entitled to withdraw the same.

(ii) We further direct the appellant institute to additionally pay compensation of Rs. one lakh to each of the respondents (complainants).

(iii) We also direct the appellant institute to pay cost of litigation which is quantified at Rs. one lakh to each of the respondents (complainants).

(iv) The appellant institute is directed to pay the amount of compensation and costs within a period of two months.”