The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the governing body for all technical education colleges including Engineering colleges. When it came to light that some standalone institutions are demanding the students to pay their fees, including admission fees and tuition fees, the Council has issued a letter to all the institutions under its jurisdiction. According to this letter from Member Secretary Rajive Kumar, colleges/institutions which come under the AICTE should not demand students to pay their fees, during this lockdown period, or till normalcy is restored.

We hear that the AICTE would issue further guidelines on revised fee payment schedules and that this information has to be displayed by the institutions on their notice boards and websites. The AICTE has also stated that this information be conveyed to all the students via email, by the respective institutions. The AICTE and UGC (University Grants Commission) would soon be jointly releasing a revised academic calendar and have meanwhile asked the colleges to continue online classes for their students, for the ongoing semester, during the lockdown period. The UGC has also formed a separate committee to make recommendations on the conduct of exams, awarding of marks and the passing criteria for the students.