Students of the University College of Engineering, JNTU-Hyderabad, have opposed a demand for an additional Rs 1,500 special fee, saying they had already paid Rs 2,500 under the same fee head at the time of admission. The Students Protection Forum submitted a representation to the college principal on Saturday, seeking withdrawal of the fee circular and refunds for students who have already paid the additional amount.
The dispute centres on whether students who were admitted under an existing fee structure should be required to pay another amount under the same special-fee category while continuing their courses. The student representatives said the fee structure applicable at the time of admission should remain unchanged until students complete their programmes.
Darla Sujay, a representative of the Students Protection Forum, said the forum opposed the college management’s decision to collect the additional amount from students who had already paid Rs 2,500 during admission. The representation asked the college to stop collecting the Rs 1,500 fee from those students and to return the money to students who had already paid it.
The demand places the focus on how fee changes are communicated and applied to students already enrolled in a course. The students’ position is that an admission-stage fee commitment should provide clarity for the duration of the programme, rather than be followed by recurring or additional charges under the same head.
The forum also warned that it would launch protests if the college continued to collect additional special fees every year. The warning comes as student representatives seek an administrative response to the circular rather than an immediate escalation outside the institution.
Among those who met the principal were student representatives Stalin, Akshit, Naveen, Gnaneshwar, Rohith, Raj Kumar, Sagar, Durgaprasad and Vasanth, along with other representatives. The report did not include a response from the college management or details of the stated purpose of the additional special fee.
The immediate next step is the college administration’s response to the representation and its decision on whether to withdraw the circular, refund students who have paid the additional amount, or provide further clarification on the fee structure.
