JNU says no hike in semester registration fee; semester applications on hold till 16 May due to COVID-19

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday clarified that the registration fee for the semester exams has not been increased, responding to claims made on social media. The university said that the registration process has been kept on hold till 16 May due to the ongoing coronavirus situation in the country.The university, in an official notice, further asked students to refer to the official website jnu.ac.in for further information about the exams and registration process.This clarification came after claims were made on social media about a major hike in registration fees.Former JNU Students Union president, N Sai Balaji, claimed that JNU students who had attempted to register for the new academic session were asked to pay over Rs 42,000 as fees.As per the official notice on the JNU semester registration, “This is to clarify that Jawaharlal Nehru University has not increased the semester registration fees for students. The student’s registration process has been put on hold till 16.05.2021, in view of the prevailing pandemic situation”."Students are advised not to give any credence to misinformation circulating in social media and may directly enquire from the Evaluation Branch for clarifications, if any," the order read.As per JNUSU Vice-President, Saket Moon, the registration process has not been opened yet and those who have paid the amount can approach for university the JNU student's union. He claimed that a "technical glitch" on the JNU registration website led to a late fee being shown for new students.However, it should be noted that the official order from the JNU did not mention any 'glitch'.According to NDTV, this is the second time JNU has put on hold the Winter Semester registration process. Earlier on 28 April, the university said that it will start the application process on 8 May.