Hyderabad panel orders ETS India to pay ₹76,900
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-III has held Educational Testing Service India guilty of deficiency in service for denying a student entry to the TOEFL Home Edition test over an unclear identity requirement, and directed the company to pay ₹76,900 as compensation and costs.
Student’s complaint
The complaint was filed by Madhupalli Ravi, a resident of Banjara Hills, on behalf of his daughter M. Kiran Sumedha Gupta. According to the complaint, she paid ₹16,900 on July 11, 2024, to register for the TOEFL iBT Home Edition, scheduled for July 21, after selecting Aadhaar as her government-issued identity document during the online registration process.
The Commission noted that ETS’s own registration system accepted Aadhaar and displayed it as “National ID” at the time of booking.
On the day of the test, however, the online proctor refused to allow her to appear for the exam, stating that only a passport was acceptable as identification. The family made repeated attempts to contact ETS India by phone and email to seek rescheduling, but received no meaningful response.
A legal notice issued on July 30 drew a brief reply from ETS stating that it needed time to process the request. The company subsequently stopped responding, the complaint said.
ETS’s defence
In its defence before the Commission, ETS argued that its official bulletin clearly specified that a passport was mandatory for the TOEFL Home Edition. It said candidates were reminded to read the bulletin through the registration confirmation email and maintained that cancellation due to an ID mismatch was justified, leaving no scope for a refund or rescheduling.
Commission’s findings
After examining the material on record, the Commission held that ETS’s registration system accepting Aadhaar as a valid ID created confusion for the candidate. It observed that charging a high fee without providing clear and consistent guidelines, and then refusing assistance even after a formal complaint, amounted to deficiency in service.
The Commission also noted that the denial resulted in the student losing academic opportunities and suffering mental agony.
Relief ordered
Taking these factors into account, the Hyderabad District Consumer Commission-III ordered ETS India, headquartered in Gurugram, to refund the test fee of ₹16,900, pay ₹50,000 as compensation for mental agony, and ₹10,000 towards litigation expenses. The total amount of ₹76,900 is to be paid within 45 days from the date of the order.
