UGC Fee Refund Policy — Academic Session 2025–26
The University of North West Himalayas (UNWH) follows the University Grants Commission (UGC) Fee Refund Policy for Academic Session 2025–26, as communicated by the Secretary, UGC (Ministry of Education, Government of India), and the UGC Notification on Refund of Fees and Non-Retention of Original Certificates (October 2018).
UGC communication for 2025–26
Vide UGC communication dated 27 October 2025, the Fee Refund Policy issued for academic session 2024–25 (D.O. No. F.2-71/2022 (CPP-II) dated 12 June 2024) remains in force for subsequent academic sessions, including 2025–26, until a fresh policy is issued by the UGC.
The cut-off date indicated in that communication is 31 October 2025. Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are required to strictly adhere to the cut-off dates mentioned in the Fee Refund Policies issued from 2021–22 to 2024–25 to resolve pending cases.
Any institution violating these provisions is liable for punitive action as provided in Clause 5 of the UGC Notification on Refund of Fees and Non-Retention of Original Certificates issued in October 2018.
Objective
The UGC notification aims to prohibit coercive and profiteering institutional practices in the matter of refund of fees when a student withdraws from a programme of study, and in the matter of retention of original certificates at or after admission. Standard operating procedures for fee refund and certificate handling are to be followed by all HEIs.
4.1 Refund of fees
4.1.1 No HEI shall make it mandatory for applicants to purchase an institutional prospectus. It is the personal choice of the applicant. Prospective students have the right to access information from the institutional website, as per the Right to Information Act, 2005 and UGC Guidelines on Students' Entitlement. HEIs shall disclose on their website and prospectus information regarding the status of the institution, its location, affiliation, accreditation, physical assets and amenities, course-wise sanctioned intake, various types of fees payable for different programmes, total fees payable for an entire programme, last date of admission, details of faculty, members of governing bodies and minutes of meetings of bodies such as Academic / Executive Council, sources of income, the financial situation, and any other information necessary for an applicant to make a fully informed choice.
4.1.2 HEIs shall charge fees in advance only for the semester / year in which a student is to engage in academic activities. Collecting advance fees for the entire programme of study or for more than one semester / year in which a student is enrolled is strictly prohibited.
4.1.3 If a student chooses to withdraw from the programme of study in which he / she is enrolled, the institution concerned shall follow the following five-tier system for the refund of fees* remitted by the student.
| S. No. |
Percentage of Refund of fees* |
Point of time when notice of withdrawal of admission is received in the HEI |
| (1) |
100% |
15 days or more before the formally-notified last date of admission |
| (2) |
90% |
Less than 15 days before the formally-notified last date of admission |
| (3) |
80% |
15 days or less after the formally-notified last date of admission |
| (4) |
50% |
30 days or less, but more than 15 days, after the formally-notified last date of admission |
| (5) |
00% |
More than 30 days after the formally-notified last date of admission |
NOTE: * Caution money and security deposit, which are not part of the fees chargeable, shall be refunded in full.
4.1.4 In case of (1) in the table above, the HEI concerned shall deduct an amount not more than 5% of the fees paid by the student, subject to a maximum of Rs. 5,000/- as processing charges from the refundable amount.
4.1.5 Fees shall be refunded by all HEIs to an eligible student within fifteen days from the date of receiving a written application from him / her in this regard.
4.2 Verification and non-retention of students' academic and personal certificates
4.2.1 No HEI shall insist upon a student to submit the original academic and personal certificates, like mark-sheets, school leaving certificates and other such documents, at the time of submitting admission form, but the submission of self-attested copies thereof shall be mandatory.
4.2.2 HEIs shall physically verify the originals at the time of admission of the student in his / her presence and return them immediately after satisfying themselves about their authenticity, keeping the attested copies for their record.
4.2.3 The self-attested certificates of students shall be held valid and authentic by the institution concerned and / or the affiliating university for all purposes and administrative requirements and should there be a need for physical verification at any time during the course of the programme of study, such verification shall be undertaken and the original certificates thus used for verification shall be returned immediately to the student concerned.
4.2.4 Taking the certificates into institutional custody under any circumstance or pretext is strictly prohibited.
4.2.5 In case of any suspicion over the authenticity or genuineness of a certificate, reference may be made to the university or the Board which issued the certificate to the student and the admission be subjected to the authentication, but original certificate shall not be retained by the HEI under any circumstance.
4.3 Grievance Redressal Mechanism (GRM)
4.3.1 All HEIs shall mandatorily have a Grievance Redressal Mechanism (GRM) as mandated by UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012, as amended from time to time, to address and effectively resolve complaints, representations and grievances related to any of the issues mentioned in this Notification.
4.3.2 The GRM shall be available on the HEI website.
4.3.3 HEIs shall ensure that all grievances received are addressed as deemed fit within 30 days.
To lodge a complaint, use Register Grievance.
