Hyderabad: The Hyderabad District Consumer Commission-3 has ruled that Educational Testing Service (ETS) India committed a deficiency in service by denying a student entry to the TOEFL Home Edition test over an unclear ID requirement, and has directed the company to pay Rs 76,900 in compensation and costs.
Student’s complaint
The case was filed by Madhupalli Ravi, a resident of Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, on behalf of his daughter, M. Kiran Sumedha Gupta. According to the complaint, Kiran paid Rs 16,900 on 11 July 2024 to register for the TOEFL iBT Home Edition test scheduled for 21 July, selecting Aadhaar as her government-issued ID during the online registration process.
ETS’s own system accepted Aadhaar and showed it as “National ID” at the time of registration.
On the day of the test, the online proctor refused to allow her to take the exam, stating that only a passport was acceptable as identification. Despite repeated attempts by the family to contact ETS India via phone and email to reschedule the test, there was no meaningful response.
A legal notice sent on 30 July prompted a brief reply from ETS, which said it needed time to process the request, but the company later stopped responding.
ETS’s defence
ETS, in its defence before the Commission, argued that its official bulletin clearly specified that a passport was mandatory as ID for the TOEFL Home Edition and that candidates were reminded to read this bulletin in the registration confirmation email.
The company maintained that cancellation due to an ID mismatch was justified and that it could not offer a refund or reschedule.
Commission’s findings
The Commission, after examining the case, noted that ETS’s own registration system, which accepts Aadhaar as a valid ID, created confusion for the candidate. It held that charging a high fee without giving clear, consistent guidelines and then refusing to help even after a formal complaint amounted to a deficiency in service.
The Commission also observed that this denial caused the student to lose academic opportunities and suffer mental agony.
Relief ordered
Taking these factors into account, the Hyderabad District Consumer Commission-3 ordered ETS India, based in Gurugram, to refund the test fee of Rs 16,900 paid by the student, along with Rs 50,000 as compensation for mental agony and Rs 10,000 towards litigation expenses, amounting to a total of Rs 76,900, to be paid within 45 days from the date of the order.
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