Case was initiated against the University for failure to refund students' contract payments

It has been found that AKFA University failed to refund contract payments to students who were enrolled in a program that was later discontinued due to the university's inability to obtain a license. This information was reported by the Committee for the Development of Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights.

The Committee noted that it had received information indicating that the "Commercial Law" program at AKFA University was suspended after one year, and the payments made by students were not refunded. Approximately 10 appeals have been lodged regarding this issue.

An analysis of these appeals revealed that on January 10, 2022, various media outlets published advertisements announcing the start of admissions for the 2022/2023 academic year at AKFA University. These advertisements indicated that applications were being accepted for the "Commercial Law" program, implying that this field of study was available.

Despite the fact that "Commercial Law" was not among the educational programs authorized by the university's license to provide non-state higher education services, students were nonetheless admitted to this program for the 2022/2023 academic year. Contracts for a 4-year (8 semesters) course of study were signed, and students paid contract fees ranging from 12.5 million to 25.0 million sums (the total amount in question from the 7 appeals received by the Committee amounts to 167,500,000.0 sums).

The program continued for a certain period. In August 2023, students were offered the option to continue their studies in the 2023/2024 academic year in a temporary hybrid format or to transfer to the International Business Education program, due to the lack of a license to teach in the "Commercial Law" field. Most students declined this offer, while some agreed to transfer to other programs.

However, the contract payments for services not provided to date have not been refunded to the affected students.

In response to this situation, Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" (which mandates the provision of safe services and full compensation for material damages caused by illegal actions), and Article 7 of the Regulation approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, were invoked. The Committee’s Special Commission initiated a case against "Central Asian University" LLC for violating these legal provisions (including imposing contractual terms that limit consumer rights and charging for services not provided). The case was reviewed by a special commission with the participation of the complainants.

The investigation found that "Central Asian University" LLC violated Articles 4, 7, 12, 19, and 21 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the Protection of Consumer Rights." As a result, the university was instructed to recalculate and refund a total of 167,500,000 sums to the 7 affected students, and to perform similar recalculations based on appeals from other students.