Rajasthan Coaching Centres Act: Fee Refund Rules

Rajasthan has passed a dedicated law for coaching centres, and the provision most families will care about is the refund rule. If a student pays for a full course and leaves partway through, the District Committee can direct the centre to refund the balance on a pro-rata basis within ten days, hostel and mess fees included.

Almost every duty in the Act is keyed to commencement. Registration becomes compulsory “after the commencement of this Act”, and the Authority itself is constituted only after the State Government notifies it. So treat what follows as the framework you will be able to invoke, and use the section on today's remedies for anything urgent.

This sits in the powers of the District Committee. The Committee may give directions for refund of the remaining fee where a student has paid for the course in full and is leaving in the middle of the prescribed period, out of the fees deposited for the remaining period, on a pro-rata basis within ten days. The same provision lets the Committee direct refund of hostel fees and mess fees where the student was staying in the coaching centre's hostel.

Three things worth noticing:

• It is pro-rata, not discretionary goodwill. The measure is the unused part of the prescribed period.
• The ten day clock is on the refund itself, not on the Committee's decision.
• Hostel and mess money is expressly included. That is usually the larger sum in Kota, Sikar and Jaipur, and it is the amount centres most often refuse.

Section 14 is the part that exists because of the suicides. The long title of the Act itself commits to “career guidance and psychological counselling for mental well-being” and to measures “to provide security and reduce stress among students”.

1. Who can complain. Under section 18, a complaint may be filed before the District Committee by the student, the parent, or a tutor or employee of the coaching centre. Staff have standing too, which matters when the evidence sits with them.
2. The enquiry. The District Committee enquires itself or through a member authorised by its Chairman.
3. The deadline. It shall pass an appropriate order within thirty days from receipt of the complaint.
4. Fair hearing. No penalty order under section 19 may be passed without giving the coaching centre an opportunity of hearing.

If the centre does not pay, section 19(2) allows recovery from the proprietor as arrears of land revenue, which is a far stronger recovery route than an ordinary money decree. Section 20 lets the District Committee cancel registration for any contravention, and section 21 provides an appeal.

One limitation to plan around. Section 24 bars the jurisdiction of civil courts over matters the State Government or an authority is empowered to deal with under the Act. That is a reason to use the statutory route properly rather than to start a civil suit. Section 23 preserves your other remedies, because the Act is “in addition to and not in derogation of” any other law.

Section 3 establishes the Rajasthan Coaching Centres Control and Regulation Authority, chaired ex-officio by the Secretary in-charge of the Department of Higher Education, with the Secretaries in-charge of School Education, Technical Education and Medical Education or their nominees not below Joint Secretary rank as members. Section 5 creates a District Committee for each district, which is the body you will actually deal with.

If your money is stuck right now, do not wait for a notification. These routes are already live:

1. Consumer commission. Coaching is a service for consideration. See filing on e-Jagriti and coaching institute refund rights.
2. Misleading advertisements. The Central Consumer Protection Authority already regulates coaching advertising. See coaching fake selection ads.
3. Batch or teacher changed after you paid. See refund rights when the batch or teacher changes.
4. RTI. Ask the Department of Higher Education, Government of Rajasthan for the commencement notification, the constitution of the Authority and of your District Committee, and the number of complaints received and orders passed. The AI RTI Drafter will write it, and The RTI Playbook explains how to push when nothing comes back.

Section 1(3) makes commencement depend on a Government notification in the Official Gazette. The Act was assented to on 23 September 2025 and published on 24 September 2025, but assent and publication are not commencement. Verify the notification before relying on any section.

The District Committee's power expressly extends to directing refund of hostel fees and mess fees where the student was staying in the coaching centre's hostel, alongside the pro-rata refund of the remaining course fee.

The code of conduct in section 12 says the number of students to be enrolled in each class or batch is to be defined in the prospectus and published on the website, and in no case shall such enrolment be increased in the class or batch during the ongoing course.

Section 18 allows a complaint by the student, the parent, or a tutor or employee of the coaching centre.

Under section 19(2) the penalty may be recovered from the proprietor of the coaching centre as arrears of land revenue.

• The Rajasthan Coaching Centres Control and Regulation Act, 2025, Rajasthan Act No. 16 of 2025, assented 23 September 2025, authorised English translation published under Notification No. F. 2 16 Vidhi 2 2025 dated 24 September 2025 in the Rajasthan Gazette. Full text on India Code at indiacode.gov.in
• Hindi title: Rajasthan Coaching Centre Niyantran aur Viniyaman Adhiniyam, 2025

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Reviewed by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak. General legal information, not legal advice. Statutory text quoted from India Code. Commencement of this Act depends on a State Government notification, so confirm the current position before acting.