The Thimphu District Court has ordered the owner of the Institute of Professional Management Studies, IPMS, to compensate the fees of 49 of his clients after their Australian visas processed by his firm were rejected. Of the 114 clients who did not get refunds from the company, 49 clients filed a case against the owner last month. According to the judgment, the IPMS has to refund a total of over Nu 4.2 M to 49 clients within a period of six months. The judgment was rendered on Friday.
The clients accused the education consultancy of refusing to refund their medical insurance fees and a client’s tuition fee, which they have been claiming since December last year.
The clients requested the court to investigate if the amount they invested was rightly used and to ensure the company pay their refunds as they kept postponing it.
On the other hand, the IPMS CEO told BBS last month that the failure to refund the clients was due to alleged embezzlement and misappropriation of company funds by three of his staff. The CEO filed a case against the staff last month.
After the clients took the owner to court, the parties pursued a negotiated settlement with the condition that the owner should refund the entire amount to the clients in six months starting the 10th of this month. The company has to refund Nu 72,000 each to 49 clients and an additional tuition fee of over Nu 700,000 to a client.
The clients initially claimed a refund of over Nu 86,000 per person, however, during the negotiation, the parties settled it at Nu 72,000 considering the changing foreign exchange rates and a 10 per cent deduction in service charges.
Meanwhile, the remaining clients are also talking with the company to claim their refunds.
The clients sought the services of the firm to process their Australian visas in December last year. Most of them said they were attracted to the firm’s scheme of processing visas without having to sit for the popular IELTS test.
Kinzang Lhadon
Edited by Kipchu
