Supreme Court to decide on issue whether education falls under Consumer Protection as service

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide the issue of whether an educational institute falls under the category of Service provider.

A Divisional bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice BV Nagarathna said that a similar issue is pending before the Supreme Court in Manu Solanki Vs. Vinayaka Mission University and both the matters will be listed together.

The bench was hearing a plea challenging order of the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission stating that the educational institution does not fall under the category of service provider, keeping them out of the purview of the Consumer Protection Act.

The student, in this case, had participated in the summer camp organized by the School conducting several activities including swimming after paying a sum of Rs. 1000/-. Whereas, the Student died after drowning in the swimming pool.

However, NCDRC dismissed the application stating that the issue is not a consumer one in nature.

The apex Court noted, "Having regard to the pendency of Civil Appeal No 3504 of 2020 (Manu Solanki and Others vs Vinayaka Mission University), the issue as to whether education is a service within the Consumer Protection Act, is pending before this Court. Leave granted. Tag with Civil Appeal"

Case Title: Rajendra Kumar Gupta Vs. Dr. Virendra Swarup Public School