Page 490 - Compendium of UGC Regulations 1957-2023

Regulations pertaining to Credits, Academic Programmes and Award of Degrees:

Annexure XI

GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM
Scope of Grievance Redressal System for Learner

The Higher Educational Institutions, offering programmes through the Open and Distance
Learning mode, shall have a Grievance Redressal System and Procedure which shall be
published on the portal of Higher Educational Institution and it shall be the responsibility of the
concerned Higher Educational Institution to update the same as and when required. Each of the
Higher Educational Institutions shall provide an online facility for submitting grievances and
track their status. The Higher Educational Institution shall also be responsible for monitoring,
assessing and reviewing the effectiveness of its Grievance Redressal Procedures.

Guidelines and Standards for the Grievance Redressal System

The Higher Educational Institution shall have the policy on Grievance Redressal System based on
following guidelines and standards, namely:—
(a) the policy should be unbiased and understandable;

(b) there should be time line for each stage of the process;
(c) the policy should be published on Higher Educational Institutions portal so that the learners
may read and refer to;

(d) the policy should be made available to learners with disability in appropriate format and the
provision should be made accordingly in the policy document;

(e) the authority or authorities involved in the grievance redressal process should treat and
investigate facts impartially;

(f) the Higher Educational Institutions should address the grievances in a timely manner so as
to lessen interruption in learning process of the learner. The Higher Educational Institution
should have the proper communication and escalation mechanism which can be operated and
maintained through the online software application;

(g) the Higher Educational Institution should maintain the confidentiality of the complainant as
far as possible;
(h) the Higher Educational Institution should ensure that officer(s) deputed for the learner support
at the Higher Educational Institution, the Regional Centres and Learner Support Centre(s)
are able to provide guidance on submitting grievances in the portal;
(i) There should be a provision to withdraw a complaint without prejudice at any time during the
procedure; and
(j) The learner should be kept informed of the status in relation to his queries or grievance on
priority.
Rights and responsibilities of a learner

(a) The learner has right to complain regarding any aspect related to his or her learning path
including programme quality, learning resources, learner support and guidance, teaching,
learning and assessment.

(b) The learner is entitled to approach the respective Learner Support Centres (in case of offline
or blended learning) for submitting his or her complaint. The learners of online mode may
submit their complaint directly to the Higher Educational Institution. The complaint can be
submitted individually or collectively by a group of learners.

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University Grants Commission