CLAT 2025 counselling refunds: How to Get a refund from Consortium?

Mirza Farhan BaigUpdated on 22 May 2025, 10:50 AM IST

The CLAT counselling registration window closed on May 21, 2025. The Consortium of NLUs restarted the CLAT counselling process after declaring the revised result on May 17. Shortlisted candidates had to pay the counselling registration fee which is Rs. 30,000 for general candidates and Rs, 20,000 for SC and ST Candidates. However, several candidates are now seeking a refund of the counselling fees they paid earlier in December when the counselling registration first started as per the old result. This is due to the fact that many have been disqualified from counselling provisions due to revisions in the CLAT merit list, whereas some have secured admission to non-NLUs through other entrance exams and no longer want to be part of the CLAT admission process. Additionally, there will be candidates, approximately 85% of those included in the current CLAT invite list; they received the invitation but may not be able to secure allotment due to a limited number of seats offered by NLUs.

CLAT 2025 counselling refunds

Such candidates can secure a full refund of the counselling fees provided they meet the terms and conditions. In some cases, a refund is given after some deductions or even the confirmation fee is locked.

Let us try to understand in this article how CLAT counselling fee refund works, what are the rules for deduction if any, and what options are available to you if you participate in the admission process and still want a fee refund.

So, there are majorly four types of refunds in CLAT counselling right now.

Candidates who have been disqualified in the revised merit list. Such candidates are eagerly waiting for refunds.
Those who are eligible for counselling and allotment, still want to opt out of the process and get the refunds
Refund for candidates who do not secure allotment in any of the NLU till the last round of counselling.
Those who exercise options such as freeze, and float but opt out later from the admission process.

CLAT counselling refund for disqualified candidates

In this case, a full refund will be given. The consortium has said that such candidates will get a refund very soon. Regarding these refunds, do check the CLAT 2025 login portal for more updates.

Refund if Opting out of CLAT 2025 counselling

Candidates simply opting out of the counselling process are advised to not use the Freeze or Float options and instead simply exercise the Exit option when allotments are announced, the counselling fee will be refunded without any deductions.

CLAT 2025 counselling fee refund after no allotment

If a candidate is not allotted a seat till the third round of counselling, the complete registration fee will be refunded.

CLAT counselling refund after exercising freeze and float

The fourth and most tricky scenario is when candidates exercise the freeze, and float options after allotment; how much refund they will get in this case?

Keep in mind that exercising freeze and float options requires candidates to pay a non-refundable confirmation fee of Rs. 20,000.

Now, going forward, if the exit option is exercised in the counselling process, candidates may get a refund of the counselling registration fee but not the Rs. 20,000 they paid for confirming the seat.

Still, if they want to opt out of the counselling after exercising freeze and float, use the exit option before 1 pm on June 09 to get a full refund of the counselling registration fee.

After this, a deduction of Rs. 5,000 is applicable, and candidates will get Rs. 15,000 or Rs. 25,000 in refund, depending on their category.

Now, suppose a candidate secured the allotment and submitted the documents at the NLU, but the university found out that identified some incorrect information or invalid documents; in this case, Rs. 5000 will be deducted and the remaining registration fee will be refunded. Additionally, the seat confirmation fee is already forfeited.

Finally, there is a case of admission withdrawal;

If a candidate takes admission at the allocated NLU but withdraws after June 09, Rs. 5000 will be deducted from his counselling fee. Additionally, the confirmation fee paid at the time of counselling will be forfeited.

In both the cases mentioned above, the candidate will end up losing Rs. 25,000. Therefore, candidates are advised to use their options judiciously, especially the freeze and float options.

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