Students of Government Arts College in Coimbatore have alleged that the administration has made provisional certificate mandatory and was charging ₹500 for it. The certificate is issued to those who pass exams and can be used as temporary proof while applying for work or pursuing higher education. M Ganesh, second year post-graduate student, said college principal K Chitra on Tuesday issued a circular directing students to pay ₹500 for the certificate along with the examination fees.

He said that the certificate was optional earlier. "Amid the COVID-19 situation, how can a student pay ₹500 for the certificate?" he questioned. "Without considering the economic condition of students, the college is levying penalty from students. For instance, students are allowed to do practical examinations for three hours and there is a fee fixed for ₹200 for postgraduate courses. If it crosses three hours, they should pay ₹50 extra," he alleged.

Another PG student on condition of anonymity said, "I have to pay ₹4,050 including the convocation fee of ₹950. The college will remit only ₹750 to the Bharathiar University. The college did not conduct a convocation last year and it looks highly unlikely that it will be conducted in the near future. Authorities can reduce the remaining ₹200 and appealed to the administration to stop collecting penalty fees, condonation fees, fees for provisional certificates, etc. Controller of examinations in the college, T Veeramani, refuted the allegations and said fees was only being collected from students. Repeated attempts to contact college principal K Chitra were in vain.