Yes, a criminal conspiracy to rob Consumers of the Cash and Credit owed to them for healthcare benefits, happens to exist, within the illicit private agreements signed between Officials of Central Universities and the Managing Directors of so-called Referral Hospitals.
Whereas, the powers and functions of a Central University's "Executive Council" as defined within Section 12 of Second Schedule, of the Universities Act, 2009, Amended up to 2024, does not govern cases pertaining to the following, several classes and categories of persons, who can be and are being impacted by the work outputs and daily business operations of India's Central Universities:
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dependents of students and employees,
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research scholars and visitors,
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dependents of research scholars and visitors,
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retirees,
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dependents of retirees,
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bystanders from the public at large.
And whereas, retirees of Central Universities are being given emoluments and benefits that they are entitled to receive, as pensioners, via payroll services of their respective Central Universities. The process of giving referrals, certificates, pensions, medical reimbursements, and other benefits to pensioners through managerial controls and activities carried out by trained workers of Central Universities, are a set of regularized and standardized "services" to Consumers of those goods and services. In this context, the word Consumers is defined in the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, Amended up to 2023.
And whereas, retirees and dependent heirs of deceased retirees, as Consumers, receive monthly pensions from Central Universities, with automatic tax-deductions at source taken by the Government of India, partly in consideration of the payroll services provided to pensioners and dependent heirs of deceased pensioners, by Government of India Entities such as Central Universities.
As such, saying that any of the process driven and controlled activities performed by trained workers of Central Universities that result in benefits given to retirees and their dependents, are not a service, would be disingenuous and factually misleading as per the science of Human Resources Management.
Therefore, the matter contained within Case File Num. FA/25/2025 of Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (TSCDRC), is legally valid, and maintainable.
Hence, it can be duly noted that...
The Executive Council and the key Financial Officers of Central Universities have been authorized to set and control financial activities of the university, as per Sections 6(xxiii to xxvi), 26(f), 29, and 36 in the First Schedule, and 7(7) in the Second Schedule, of the Universities Act, 2009, Amended up to 2024. However, by no means, do any of the employees or contractors of a Central University have a right, or an obligation, to operate an unregulated "money circulation scheme" by misusing and abusing their official position and powers.
Central Universities have been giving out unstructured Cash Loans and Consumer Credit on a daily commercial basis, to their employees and retirees for healthcare expenses while misusing and abusing the brand of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). These commercial loans for healthcare expenses in the form of "Cash Advances", and "Consumer Credit", have irregular and discriminatory cost structures for various categories of persons receiving such illicit loans. This is certainly a copyrights violation of the brand and label of CGHS. But more importantly, these types of untoward activities in Central Universities cause a loss of Credit Score to Consumers in India, who could have otherwise earned a positive Credit Score from a regular insurance company, if those Consumers were not forced by Central University Officials to take the Central University's unstructured loans for healthcare expenses via the lure of CGHS.
Per day, thousands of illicit loans are being forcibly thrust upon helpless employees and retirees of universities, by Officers of those Central Universities, so that those universities can amass commercial gains by abusing the coffers of the University Grants Commission.
The systematic mechanism of stealing Cash and Credit owed to Consumers involves shrouded and clandestine loans that are forced upon Central University employees and retirees by the university's Officers, without providing a "Credit Policy Document" or a "Loan Policy Offer Document." The loans are forced onto the Consumer by using the lure of CGHS rates for healthcare-expense reimbursements. And the Central University's institutional policies for those Medical Reimbursement Claims submitted by its employees and retirees, has severely discriminatory terms and conditions, such as, reimbursing either 70% or 50% of the claimed amount, without transparently specifying the basis of that type of discrimination against the claimants. In fact, more often than not, less than 35% of the amount in the submitted Medical Reimbursement Claim is returned to the claimant by the Central University's Officers. This is how money is "skimmed off the top", through deliberate mismanagement of Medical Reimbursement Claims by university Officers, while hurting the innocent tax-payer.
Indeed, Medical Reimbursement Claims are an integral part of the mechanism for stealing Cash and Credit belonging to unassuming employees and retirees, who are duped and forced to participate in the money circulation scheme being operated by Central Universities. The theft of Cash from healthcare Consumers happens when the so-called Referral Hospital charges inflated bills (that too, without a proper invoice), and denies CGHS rates to Central Government employees and retirees. Those Central Government employees and retirees are otherwise entitled to receiving CGHS rates and tariffs from the Referral Hospitals. And those Referral Hospitals are also, typically accredited as, "CGHS Empanelled Hospitals." Next, the subsequent theft of Credit owed to those employees and retirees as Consumers of the university's services, happens when the Central Universities reimburse less than 100% of the out-of-pocket expenses reported in the Medical Reimbursement Claims. Such a theft of Credit owed to those consumers occurs while the Central University's Officials force the claimants to endure cash-flow risks, during a time period of months or years in waiting for the Medical Reimbursement Claim to be settled by the Central University. Such unfair and unjust activities are ongoing, because the Officials of the Central Universities are able to use their political clout, and are also able to claim indemnity, while hiding behind the statues of the Universities Act, 2009.
It is utterly deplorable when Central University Officials assert that they are being "generous", in giving 50% or 60% of the healthcare Consumer's out-of-pocket expenses, through Medical Reimbursement Claims, while snatching the remaining amount. This is because, it is the duty of Central University Officials to return 100% of those incurred healthcare expenses by each of the university's employees and retirees, especially when those Officials have been cunningly forcing the university employees and retires (and their dependents), to forego legitimate health insurance plans from insurance companies.
A worse form of breach of trust and betrayal of confidence occurs, against the university's employees and retirees as healthcare Consumers, when the Central University derives financial gains from having invested in the shares of any Referral Hospitals that generate unearned incomes through cash stolen from those healthcare Consumers using surcharged bills. Given that such Central Universities attempt to pay their liabilities and debts to their employees and retirees, via unearned incomes amassed by the universities by exclusively pushing those healthcare Consumers into the dirty hands of nefarious Referral Hospitals, this type of a scam has the hallmarks of a, "Ponzi Scheme."
As such, this mechanism of stealing the Cash and Credit owed to employees and retirees of Central Universities by entering into unethical private agreements with Referral Hospitals, and by mismanaging Medical Reimbursement Claims, constitutes an unregulated, irregular, and illegal money circulation scheme. This illegal money circulation scheme also happens to be in contravention of the rules and regulations set forth by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for the assurance of Credit to healthcare Consumers.
While circumventing the rules and regulations of the IRDAI, Central Universities are able to play foul by forcing their employees and retirees to sign an undertaking, "for not utilizing regulated health insurance plans from private and public insurance companies." This type of systemic malfeasance is also an anti-competition tactic in contravention of the Competition Act of 2002, that is still being orchestrated by Central Universities against private insurers and underwriters. This ongoing scam, indeed, is a significantly injurious, harmful, and damaging activity to the promotion of open market competition in India's insurance industry.
It just so happens that international investors and underwriters who invest in private and public insurance companies of India, are also being cheated and hurt in this manner, by Government of India's Central Universities.
Worst of all, the improperly administered "Cash Advance Programs" being operated by Central Universities, involve belligerent forms of deception and discrimination against the non-teaching staff and all other retirees of those universities, in providing medical-expense reimbursements to those specific categories of persons. Many of the non-teaching staff of Central Universities belong to "Lower-Caste Hindu communities and other religious minority groups", while the administrative Officials who discriminate against those poor persons, in providing lesser medical-expense reimbursements, belong to "Upper-Caste Hindu communities."
The proof of this type of discrimination and ongoing illicit activities among Indian Central Universities is obtainable within the universities' financial records which show that only the categories of persons belonging to non-teaching staff and retirees, receive less than 70% (on average) of the actual reimbursement owed to them, each time they file a Medical Reimbursement Claim. For decades, Central University Officials have thus continued to rob and misappropriate portions of the full Credit owed to the families of employees and retirees, for essential healthcare benefits. This amounts to thousands of Crores of Rupees stolen form targeted families of Central Government employees and retirees, by Central Government Officials, each year, via the Ponzi Scheme being orchestrated among dozens of Central Universities and hundreds of Referral Hospitals across India.
Indeed, there is no such statute that grants those university Officials "absolute" immunity and indemnity, from the consequences of repeatedly attempting to evade The Law from having systematically committed such fraudulence and thefts, and from the consequences of continuously operating an illicit money circulation scheme via the abuse of tax-payer monies obtained from the University Grants Commission. So, there are no further excuses or reasonable justifications that those university Officials can possibly shore up, for them to be allowed to continue such wrongdoings, especially against tens of thousands of research scholars, visitors, employees, retirees, and the dependents of such systematically victimized categories of persons.
Each Central University in India that has invested in the shares of "Referral Hospitals" while allowing those Referral Hospitals to get away with activities of depriving university employees and retirees of their Civil Rights to avail CGHS, only to then give out medical-expense reimbursements to those employees and retirees in a non-uniform or a discriminatory way, produces the indisputable evidence of such "nefarious quid-pro-quo" based investments. That indisputable evidence is indelibly published within the University's financial records that are available to the public and the Government of India's House of Parliament. Those financial records that are being scrutinized via successive RTI1 applications, are the most certain and tangible pieces of evidence, for verifying which particular Officials of Central Universities and Managers of unscrupulous Referral Hospitals were, or happen to be currently involved in the conspiratorial activities of cheating tax-paying Consumers form the public at large.
Footnotes
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Right to Information Act, 2005. ↩