The National Medical Commission (NMC) argued before the Kerala High Court that medical colleges can charge MBBS fees only for the prescribed four and a half years of academic study, maintaining that institutions cannot collect tuition for periods beyond the notified academic duration.The submission came in response to a petition filed by the Kerala Private Medical University Management Association, which challenged the Commission’s direction regarding reimbursement of fees collected for an additional six months. In its statement before the court, the NMC argued that only the Commission is authorized to prescribe the duration of the MBBS course and that the collection of fees should be within that framework.NMC cites statutory provisions on course durationThe Commission relied on Sections 10 and 24 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 read with the Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) Guidelines, 2024 framed under the Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER). According to these provisions, the MBBS program comprises 54 months, or four and a half years, of academic study, followed by one year of compulsory rotating medical internship (CRMI).The NMC told the court that charging fees beyond the prescribed period of academic study is inconsistent with the approved structure of the MBBS programme, as the internship does not constitute academic teaching.Previous court decisions form a legal basisThe Commission also referred to the interim orders issued in Abhishek Yadav v. Union of India (WP No. 730 of 2022), where complaints regarding non-payment of stipend and imposition of internship charges and internship expenses were considered.He also cited the judgments in TMA Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, Islamic Academy of Education v. State of Karnataka and PA Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra, which stated that fee structures should be reasonable, transparent, non-exploitative and commensurate with the academic facilities and services actually provided.The Commission reiterates the compliance requirementThe NMC argued that the imposition of fees for periods beyond the prescribed academic duration, where no corresponding academic education is imparted, would be inconsistent with these legal principles. He reiterates that MBBS fees should be charged only for the academic course of four and a half years.The Commission also told the court that all medical colleges, institutions and universities are required to comply with the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, applicable regulations and judicial directions governing medical education. He stated that any case of non-compliance would be considered seriously and that appropriate action could be initiated under the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions.
