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

The Institution shall have a Grievance Redressal System based on the following Guidelines and standards, viz

• The policy should be unbiased and understandable;
• There should be a time line for each stage of the process;
• The policy should be published on the Institution’s portal so that the learners may read and refer to it when necessary;
• The policy should be made available to learners with disability in the appropriate format and provisions for the same should be made accordingly in the policy document;
• The authority or authorities involved in the grievance redressal process should treat and investigate facts impartially;
• The Institution should address the grievances in a timely manner so as to eliminate interruptions in learning processes. The Institution should have the proper communication and escalation mechanism which can be operated and maintained through online software application
• The Institution should maintain the confidentiality of the complainant as far as possible;
• The Institution should ensure that officer(s) deputed for learner support at the Institution, the Regional Centres and Learner Support Centres (LSCs) are able to provide guidance on submitting grievances in the portal;
• There should be a provision to withdraw a complaint without prejudice at any time during the procedure; and
• The learner should be kept informed of the status in relation to his/her queries or grievance on priority.

• The learner has a right to complain regarding any aspect related to his or her learning path, including program quality, learning resources, learner support and guidance, teaching, learning and assessment.
• 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 Institution. The complaint can be submitted individually or collectively by a group of learners.
• The learner should submit a formal complaint in a manner prescribed by the Institution regarding expression of dissatisfaction with a service provided or the lack of a service or the quality of a service. Such expression should be correlated with what the learners were entitled to receive.

• The Institution shall work with the principles of openness and collaboration
• The Institution shall continuously improve the services it offers. As and when a grievance is received, the Institution shall investigate it thoroughly and make the necessary improvement(s) in its services.
• The Institution shall encourage Learner Support Centres to make initial attempts to address and resolve complaints as close as possible to the point of origin, and with the minimum of formality.
• The Institution shall also monitor the Grievance Redressal process through its Learner Support Centres.
• The Institution is responsible for privacy and confidentiality, unless disclosure is necessary to proceed in the matter.
• The grievance should be accompanied by the reasons for dissatisfaction and expected remedy. The learner should also give the Online Grievance Registration Number generated at the time of submitting the complaint at the Learner Support Centre.
• The Head of concerned Department of the Institution shall investigate the complaint(s) or refer the matter(s) to a more appropriate person, body or committee or departments, as he/she may deem appropriate.
• It shall be the responsibility of the Head of the Institution to monitor the progress and to timely resolve the matter.
• The Head of the Institution will respond in writing (letters or email etc.) through offline or online mode, giving reasons for a decision and action taken thereto.