Legal requirements for refund of fees by off-campus training institutions? (Legal provisions for refund of fees by educational institutions)

What are the legal requirements for refunds of training institutions?

1. What are the legal requirements for refunds of training institutions?

First, if the student is unable to complete the study plan due to the school's reasons, the student requests to drop out of school and refund the fee, and the school must refund the remaining fee.

Second, before the start of the school, students due to irresistible reasons, such as students issuing formal acceptance letters from colleges and universities that recognize academic qualifications at all levels or from the armed forces, or due to serious illness, accidental casualties, special family difficulties and other legitimate reasons to apply for withdrawal and refund, and submit an application for withdrawal and refund to the schoolOf course, the school deducts a 5% handling fee, and then refunds the remaining fees.

Third, be sure to read the contents of the agreement clearly before signing the agreement. It is recommended that consumers retain evidence of rights protection. There are relevant refund agreements in the agreement. Under normal circumstances, the agreement between the consumer and the merchant shall prevail (except for invalid format clauses).

Regarding the issue of liquidated damages, Article 585 of the Civil Code (effective January 1, 2021): “The parties may agree that when one party defaults, it shall pay a certain amount of liquidated damages to the other party in accordance with the circumstances of the breach of contract, or they may agree on the calculation method of the amount of compensation for losses arising from the breach of contract. If the agreed liquidated damages are lower than the caused losses, the People's Court or arbitration institution may increase them at the request of the parties; if the agreed liquidated damages are too high than the caused losses, the People's Court or arbitration institution may appropriately reduce them at the request of the parties. If the party concerned delays the performance of the agreed liquidated damages, the defaulting party shall also perform the debt after paying the liquidated damages. ”Generally speaking, the upper limit of contract liquidated damages is not more than 30% of the actual loss. For situations where consumers say that they have not made an appointment for a course or have cancelled a course, it is recommended that consumers keep relevant evidence, such as written materials, audio recordings, mobile phone text messages, e-mail, and online chat records, during the communication process with the business. If litigation is involved in the future, from the perspective of evidence, according to the rule of “who claims and who gives evidence”, relevant evidence needs to be provided in legal proceedings.

Fourth, if a student is unable to continue class due to personal violations of national laws, regulations, etc. while in school, and applies for a refund, no refund will be made.

Fifth, schools must charge fees in accordance with the fee items and fee standards approved by the education administrative department and other relevant departments, and use special bills uniformly printed by relevant departments. This bill serves as the only voucher basis for school fees and refunds.

2. Who should I complain to if the training course is not refundable?

If the cram school does not refund the fee, it should complain to the consumer association. The so-called consumer complaint refers to written or oral objections, claims, and requests for settlement of problems that consumers need to purchase, use goods, or accept services for their daily consumption, and have disputes with business operators over consumer rights and interests.

In order to standardize the procedures for handling consumer complaints by China's Administrative department for Industry and commerce, deal with consumer rights and interests disputes between consumers and business operators in a timely manner, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and ensure non-refundable who to complain to. In February 2014, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China approved and announced to the public the administrative department for Industry and Commerce handles consumer complaints.Measures (Order No. 62 of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce), effective from March 15, 2014

The consumer Association accepts consumer complaints and implements the principle of focusing on regional jurisdiction and supplementing hierarchical jurisdiction.：

(1) Complaints against consumers shall be handled by the county-level consumer association or a subordinate branch where the respondent is located; if the respondent's location is inconsistent with the place of permanent residence, the county-level consumer association or a subordinate branch of the place of permanent residence shall handle the complaint.

(2) If the case involves more than two county-level jurisdictions, it shall be handled by a common consumer association at the next higher level (municipal or provincial).

(3) If the case involves more than two municipal associations within the jurisdiction of the municipal association, the provincial consumer association shall handle it; the provincial consumer association may entrust any consumer association related to the case within the jurisdiction to handle the complaint that has been accepted.

(4) Letters and online complaint cases received by the provincial consumer association can be directly transferred to the local consumer association for handling, and major and difficult complaint cases can be directly accepted.

(5) If a foreign consumer complains to a domestic business operator, the complaint shall be handled by the consumer association at the county level where the respondent is located without refund; for disputes caused by consumption in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hong Kong, and Macau, consumers in the province may complain to the consumer association where the consumer is located.