The CLAT counselling procedure is crucial for every student aspiring to study law in the National Law University (NLUs). Most candidates get a seat, yet there is always a doubt if the CLAT counselling fee becomes refundable upon non-allocation of a seat. The blog covers an in-depth study of the CLAT counselling refund policy, process, and statistics concerning CLAT counselling 2025.

Understanding the CLAT Counselling Process

The CLAT counselling process involves the following key steps:

The following are major steps of the process of counselling in CLAT:

• Result Declaration: The results of the CLAT 2025 were released on December 10, 2024.

• Counselling Registration: Registration for counselling is to be done online between December 11 and December 20, 2024, along with the payment of the counselling fee of ₹30,000 for general category. (₹20,000 for reserved categories).

• Seat Allocation Rounds: Multiple allotment lists will be released on the basis of merit and preference by the student with first list to be out on December 26, 2024, onward continuing into January and May 2025.

Refund of CLAT Counselling Registration and Confirmation Fee: Important Guidelines

Full Refund Scenarios

• Candidates who are not allotted a seat by the end of the fifth round of the CLAT counselling process 2025 will receive a full refund of the counselling registration fee.
  
• Candidates who opt for neither the “Freeze” nor “Float” option and exit the counselling process will also get a full refund of the CLAT registration fee 2025.

Partial Refund of CLAT Fees 2025

• Candidates allocated a seat who choose the “Freeze” or “Float” option until the fourth round but later opt to exit or fail to complete admission at their chosen NLU will be refunded:
  
• Refund of full CLAT counselling fee if they exit before 1:00 PM on May 24, 2025.
  
• A reduced amount after deducting ₹5,000 if the exit is after 1:00 PM on May 24, 2025.

CLAT Counselling Fee Refund Deductions for Specific Situations

• If a candidate is found ineligible during document verification at any round, ₹5,000 will be deducted from the registration fee, and the remaining amount will be refunded.
• For candidates who withdraw after accepting admission to an NLU (“Freeze” option) beyond June 10, 2025, ₹5,000 will be deducted, and the confirmation fee will be forfeited.

Fifth Round-Specific Guidelines

• Candidates allotted a seat for the first time in the fifth round who choose to exit or fail to complete admission will receive a full refund of the CLAT counselling registration fee.

CLAT 2025 Confirmation Fee Guidelines

The confirmation fee is non-refundable in the following cases:

• If a candidate opts for the exit option after securing admission to an NLU.
  
• If a candidate fails to pay the required fees at the allocated NLU within the specified timeline.
  
• If a candidate is found ineligible during the document verification process.

Additional Important Points for CLAT Counselling Fee Refund Policy 2025

• CLAT fee refund will only be initiated to the account from which the original payment was made. Candidates must ensure their bank accounts remain functional throughout the counselling and refund processes.
  
• Requests to transfer refunds to another account will not be entertained.
  
• The confirmation fee will be adjusted against the admission fees at the respective NLU once the admission is finalized.

Tips to maximize your refund

• Choose Preferences Wisely: Fill your NLU preferences in the right way as incorrect options may reduce your chances of allotment. 

• Keep Checking Allotment Lists: Withdraw as soon as you know you don’t want to take that seat. 

• Submission of Documents: Make sure all necessary documents are ready for submission. Otherwise, it will lead you to disqualify that may affect the refund claim.

CLAT Counselling 2025- Important Dates

Statistical Insights of CLAT 2025

The trends from the CLAT 2024 counselling are as follows, which may be helpful for the candidates to understand refund scenarios:

• Total Registrants for Counselling: 20,000+
• Seats Allotted in First round: Approx. 60%
• Refund requests processed: 5000+ Refunds permitted for unallotted seats/withdrawals

Documents Required for CLAT Counselling 2025

CLAT 2025 Counselling – After Registration Process

The candidates have to take one of the three options, Freeze, Float or Exit, after the first seat allocation list of 26th December 2024 on which they have to make a very important choice among all three options because each option has a significant consequence for the candidates.

Freeze Option in CLAT 2025

If a candidate will be satisfied with the seat allotted to him/her in any of the CLAT counselling rounds, he/she has to select the Freeze option.

By choosing this option, he/she will not be considered for the following counselling rounds.

Candidates opting for freeze should pay confirmation fees at the stipulated time. The time schedule for effecting payments of fees is as follows: For freezing in the first, second, and third rounds, university fee payment has to be made by 14th May 2025.

For freezing in the fourth and fifth rounds, payment has to be done by 10th June 2025.

Else, the candidature will be cancelled without notice for failing to pay the necessary fees at the proper time.

Float Option in CLAT Counselling 2025

By availing this option, candidates can keep their current NLU seat while waiting to see if they get admitted to the preferred NLU in further counselling rounds. This option is best suited for students wanting to try and shift to a better-preference NLU.

Eligibility: Any candidate interested in continuing in the counselling process to acquire a seat at another better-placed NLU should select the Float option. Conditions: Float option gets disqualified once one gets allotted the highest preferred NLU. Also, the candidate is allowed to move upwards in their preference list only. Once a higher-preferred NLU is assigned, the candidate cannot move down to a lower-preferred NLU. 

Payment Requirement: Candidates selecting the float option have to pay the confirmation fee within the given time limit.

Final Round Limitation: However, in the final round of counselling, the float option will not be there and the seat allocated in this round will be final. 

Exit Option in CLAT Counselling 2025

This is an option for candidates to exit from the counselling process in any reason they may have for leaving registration to CLAT. 

If the candidate has previously selected either Freeze or Float before leaving, his/her seat will be released and allocated to someone else, along with exclusion from the upcoming rounds of counselling. In addition to that, besides selecting one or either of these, if a candidate exits, their confirmation fee will also be forfeited.

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