Legal action taken against Akfa University for enrolling students in unlicensed Commercial Law program

The Competition Committee issued a directive to Akfa University to rectify the legal violations. According to the committee's information service, the directive was based on multiple complaints regarding the university's "Commercial Law" program, which had been running for a year before being abruptly halted. The complaints also mentioned that the tuition fees were not being refunded.

An analysis revealed that on January 10, 2022, various media outlets published advertisements announcing the commencement of admissions to Akfa University for the 2022/2023 academic year. These advertisements also mentioned that applications were being accepted for the "Commercial Law" program, despite the program not being listed among the approved educational programs in the university's license for non-state higher education services. Nevertheless, students were admitted to this unlicensed program, and contracts for a four-year (eight-semester) course of study were signed. The students paid tuition fees ranging from 12.5 million to 25 million UZS, with the total amount in question amounting to 167.5 million UZS, based on seven complaints received by the committee.

The program continued for a certain period. However, in August 2023, students were informed that due to the lack of a license for the "Commercial Law" program, they could either continue their studies temporarily in a hybrid format for the 2023/2024 academic year or transfer to the International Business program. Most students rejected this offer, while some agreed to switch to another program.

However, as of today, the tuition fees for the unprovided services have not been refunded to the students.

In this case, the "Central Asian University" LLC was found to have violated the requirements of Articles 4 (ensuring the safety of services and full compensation for material damage caused by unlawful actions of the provider), 7 (compensating for damages caused by misleading advertising), 12 (ensuring compliance with other applicable standards and regulations when providing services), 19 (failure to fulfill contract terms), and 21 (including terms in the contract that restrict consumer rights, charging for unprovided services) of the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights." The case was examined by a special commission with the participation of the complainants.

The "Central Asian University" LLC was ordered to eliminate the legal violations, prevent them in the future, and recalculate the total amount of 167.5 million UZS for seven students who were not provided with services, as well as to conduct the necessary recalculations with other complainants.