Lawsuit filed against Akfa University for unlicensed Commercial Law program
Akfa University Faces Legal Action for Admitting Students to Unlicensed Program
Akfa University is currently under scrutiny after admitting several students to its Commercial Law program for the 2022/2023 academic year without obtaining the necessary license. The university signed four-year mass offer contracts with the students and collected tuition fees ranging from 12.5 million to 25 million UZS. As a result, the Competition Committee has initiated a case against the university and issued an order for the return of the students’ tuition fees.
The Competition Committee issued a directive to Akfa University to rectify the legal violations following multiple complaints regarding the university’s unlicensed “Commercial Law” program. Despite running for a year before being abruptly halted, the program failed to refund the tuition fees to the affected students.
An analysis revealed that Akfa University advertised the program’s admissions for the 2022/2023 academic year without it being listed among the approved educational programs in the university’s license for non-state higher education services. Nevertheless, students were admitted, signed contracts for a four-year course of study, and paid tuition fees. The total amount in question is 167.5 million UZS based on seven complaints received by the committee.
After informing students about the lack of a license for the program in August 2023, Akfa University offered them the option to continue their studies temporarily in a hybrid format or transfer to another program. However, the tuition fees for the unprovided services have not been refunded to the students as of now.
In response to these violations, the “Central Asian University” LLC, which operates Akfa University, was found to have violated multiple articles of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights.” The university was ordered to rectify the legal violations, prevent future occurrences, recalculate the total amount owed to the affected students, and conduct necessary recalculations with other complainants.
The case highlights the importance of ensuring compliance with licensing requirements and upholding consumer rights in the educational sector. Akfa University is urged to address the grievances of the affected students promptly and take corrective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
