Government authorities have rapped the knuckles of private English school chain Nova Corp. for allegedly shortchanging students on refunds and providing false accounts of its cancellation policy.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government inspected Nova's headquarters in Osaka and several schools Wednesday. The company may get a directive forbidding it from enrolling new students if clear evidence of legal violations is found in further investigations, officials said Friday.

According to the officials, several Nova schools failed to give full refunds to students who canceled their remaining lessons after paying in advance.