Circulars had been sent to various departments by the examination branch, intimating students about the hike.

Various departments including the University Institute of Engineering Technology, Department of Laws and Police Administration had received circulars a few days ago, informing them about the revised examination fee. This had also led to agitation among students, but they ended up paying the hiked fee. The DSW said: “There has been a miscommunication as we have not increased the fee. Recently, many wrong circulars were sent and we are trying to pin down the person responsible for this.” While PU authorities said that there has been no increase, nominal increase in a few departments, officials of the examination branch said they had passed whatever information they had received from the V-C's office.

Professor A K Bhandari, Controller Examination, said: “We communicated whatever information we received from the V-C’s office. Some changes were made later but were not communicated to us.”

Sources, meanwhile, maintain that there has been a deliberate miscommunication. It is also being alleged that former Deputy Registrar A S Randhawa is responsible for the faux pas. Refuting the allegations, Randhawa said: “I did what I was told to do. It is a mistake on part of both departments. The details will be available with the examination controller.”