Firms request IIMs to waive placement fees

Many domestic and foreign companies in banking and financial services, consulting and consumer goods are believed to have written to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), requesting them to waive participation and recruitment fees.

IIMs charge fee at two levels: participation and recruitment. The fee, however, differs according to the slot that companies get on campus for placement.

For instance, IIM-Bangalore charges the companies around Rs 1 lakh as participation fee and Rs 1 lakh towards recruitment fee per student for day zero or day one.

The fee decreases if the companies get a slot on later days. On day three, the institute charges only the recruitment fee, which could be less than Rs 1 lakh.

IIM-Bangalore confirmed that it has received requests from the companies to waive the participation and recruitment fees. The institute will take up the issue at its board meeting in the next few days.

“We understand that the market is tough and we are sensitive to the needs of the companies, but we certainly cannot waive the entire fee. It is an unrealistic demand,” said Professor Sourav Mukherjee, chairman placements, IIM-Bangalore.

IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), which increased its participation fee in February 2007, after four years, to Rs 1.5 lakh may also restructure the fees.

“We are changing the participation fee structure and making it considerably more favourable for firms,” confirmed Mihir Lal, student co-ordinator for placements at IIM-A.

IIM-Indore, though, says it has not received any letter in this regard,but companies said they would discuss the issue with the institute when they come to campus.

Waiving the fee is impossible, the IIMs noted. Earnings from placements account for around 5 per cent of IIM's total revenues.

On an average, IIM-A’sannual realisation through placement fees is over Rs 2 crore (this is a conservative estimate). Other IIMs earn between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 80 lakh.

The institutes, however, also pay the Central Board for Excise and Customs a 12.2 per cent service tax on these fees.