The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Over nine individuals and more have been robbed of their dreams of pursuing studies abroad, as they say they were misguided and cheated by the Middle Path ECPF.
Collectively, the ECPF has yet to refund an amount of over Nu 1.4 million to the nine people (and possibly more), who have been left confused and helpless, since most of their queries were deflected, they were given excuses, and were even ignored by the staff.
The nine of them and others had applied for studies abroad in Australia, USA, UK, New Zealand and Germany.
Victims say that after they received their offer letters from the consultancy, they paid the college seat confirmation fee, which needed to be paid in advance, a consultancy fee of Nu 22,000, insurance fees, and the visa fee.
Most of them only received the 50% consultancy fee (Nu 11,000), which is refundable if the visa is unsuccessful. The rest of the refundable fees were never returned.
One of the victims, a 27-year-old female, shared that she paid a total of Nu 182,324.
One of the staff members explicitly mentioned in a text message that the process was based on IELTS performance and, if it was not possible, the ECPF would withdraw the application and proceed with a refund.
She felt her scores were insufficient and decided to withdraw from further processing. However, the ECPF pressured her to give it another shot instead of promptly refunding.
She was told that for availing a refund, a non-refundable test booking fee of Nu 29,881 (260 pounds), plus a 50% non-refundable consultancy fee of Nu 11,000, would be deducted. As per her calculations, her refund amount totals Nu 130,443.
However, she only received the refundable consultancy fee of Nu 11,000.
The 27-year-old female found herself being one of Middle Path’s deceived clients. Several other people also received the same treatment from the ECPF, with delayed responses and ignorance.
The victims grouped together and formed a WhatsApp group, trying to get their hard-earned money back, with some saying that they had to borrow from others to go abroad.
Since some members of the group were not physically present in Thimphu, the 27-year-old and Kinley (another victim in the same situation), who were present, sought justice.
First, they went to the police station after writing a letter to one of the police officials, claiming that they were deceived by the ECPF and demanding a refund.
The police contacted the ECPF’s licence holder, who is named Yeshi Yuden.
On 23 October 2025, she answered the police that “The issue will be resolved from our side. Please drop me the name of the students who filed the complaint so that I can cross-check immediately,” according to the screenshot message.
According to the 27-year-old, the police said that the ECPF would give refunds, but they did not know when.
The police told them that they would hold a meeting and get back to them soon. After the meeting, the victims were told that the case was not within police jurisdiction and could only be dealt with if it was associated with criminal activities.
They were told to go to the Bhutan Qualifications and Professional Certification Authority (BQPCA). Representing the group, she and Kinley filed a formal complaint with the BQPCA regarding the matter.
Soon after, they were sent to the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (CCAA) by the BQPCA, since the Middle Path ECPF’s licence was soon to be cancelled by the BQPCA.
They made a WhatsApp group and added all complainants who had previously reported to the Authority, and asked them to state how much refund the ECPF owed to each of them.
Afterwards, the Authority called upon two representatives from the ECPF to sign a letter of undertaking that explicitly mentions each victim’s refund amount and the directive given by the CCAA to the ECPF to refund the money within a given timeframe, failing which the victims may take legal action against them.
The 27-year-old says that her previously calculated amount of Nu 130,443 was now mysteriously reduced to Nu 119,369 in the undertaking.
She said, “We were told by the CCAA to sign the undertaking now, since the consultancy will be deregistered from tomorrow and there may be no chance that we will get the money if we don’t.”
“If we wanted the exact amount, they would take out my name from the undertaking and told me to go to court directly,” she added.
The ECPF signed that all refunds must be paid on or before 30 January 2026. Most victims have not received a dime from the ECPF to date.
Victims are now left confused and helpless, as taking legal action is a costly affair for them.
“Bearing legal fees on top of our financial debt is a tough decision for us,” said one of the family members of the affected.
According to the amounts provided by the victims, the total comes to around Nu 1.4 million that needs to be refunded.
One of the victims’ fathers, Yeshi Samdrup, went to court and initiated legal action against the ECPF. He had paid a total amount of Nu 394,391 in visa and insurance fees.
He said that the staff told them to transfer the money to their bank accounts, instead of directly wiring it to the university. For other victims, they were also told to transfer money to the bank accounts of the staff.
Yeshi inquired with the university in the United Kingdom directly and asked if his daughter was registered. The university responded that no such money was received in her name.
The court passed a verdict with an arrest warrant for the proprietor, Yeshi Yuden. Apparently, she was dodging messages and calls from the victims, saying that she was in Thimphu or somewhere in Gelephu from time to time, making her arrest difficult.
The victims say that this deception may have been organised, since the staff included family members, with Bikash, a family member, as the CEO.
In another case, a 23-year-old female (New Zealand applicant) within the group was deceived and was told by the ECPF that her visa had been lodged.
She was told repeatedly that her visa would arrive, even until the last week before her course was to start.
She said, “I was told that my visa was lodged and to wait. I contacted the immigration agency and they told me that the application number the ECPF sent to me was not submitted.”
From her interaction with one of the staff, she was given excuses until she confirmed it on her own. There is no proof of any repayment either.
CCAA’s response
A total of sixteen complaints were received by the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (CCAA), referred by the Bhutan Qualifications and Professional Certification Authority (BQPCA), against M/s Middle Path ECPF.
Following intervention by the CCAA, refunds exceeding Nu 1.36 million were facilitated, comprising full refunds to seven complainants and partial refunds to two complainants.
“An outstanding amount of Nu 0.64 million remains payable by the firm to the remaining nine complainants,” said an official.
This contradicts the statements made by the victims, since nine of them (those in the WhatsApp group) told this reporter that they did not receive any refund.
The CCAA subsequently facilitated a mediated settlement between the complainants and the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, acting through his authorised representative.
Under the terms of the settlement, the firm undertook to effect full refunds to the remaining complainants within one month from the date of mediation. It was further agreed that, in the event of non-compliance, the complainants would initiate legal proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction.
“Following the firm’s failure to honour its undertaking, the CCAA made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to contact the Chief Executive Officer. In the absence of further administrative recourse, the CCAA advised the complainants to pursue appropriate legal action before the courts,” said an official from the CCAA.
Proprietor’s dilemma
After the court passed an arrest warrant on Yeshi Yuden, she is apparently on the run.
“The police can only arrest her in the case that her location has been identified,” says Yeshi Samdrup.
The CEO of Middle Path ECPF, Bikash, is apparently in Australia, which makes him unreachable by both the victims and the CCAA.
This reporter also contacted the brother of the CEO, who appeared as the representative of the ECPF during the signing of the letters of undertaking.
He said, “The CEO is my brother. However, I am neither an employee nor a person in charge within the company, and I have never worked for them. I was contacted by the office staff and informed about the situation and the issues they were facing.”
“As the CEO was in Australia, the CCAA requested him to authorise someone to sign on his behalf. Accordingly, I was authorised only for that limited purpose,” he added.
This makes Yeshi Yuden, the licence holder, accountable for all the charges and responsible for the refunds, as she is under pressure from everyone.
In one of the WhatsApp interactions, she said, “Will remind him tomorrow to at least refund visa and health insurance fees… Bikash is not responding to me at all. I met his brother in Thimphu and, as agreed, we will do a court case.”
“I am so done and tired and mentally disturbed,” she added.
A misconception
Some victims were under the perception that Middle Path ECPF was operating under a new name, since a new ECPF had coincidentally shifted to their previous location.
This reporter went to the new ECPF and confirmed that they were an independent and completely separate consultancy.
“We have heard of what Middle Path did to their clients. We also saw some of their clients coming to our office who thought that Middle Path was operating under a new name, but we clarified it to them,” said the owner of the new ECPF.
Middle Path’s TikTok account is also now used by them, since it had a huge following, according to the owner of the new ECPF.
“We are not affiliated in any way with Middle Path ECPF. We shifted in February 2026 and have been operating under a completely different licence since 2014,” said the owner.
