No MBBS Fees Beyond 4.5 Years: NMC Tells Kerala HC It Holds Exclusive Power to Fix Course Duration

NMC: In the Kerala High Court, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has laid down its clear position that the medical colleges do not have any right to collect tuition fees beyond the four-and-a-half-year prescribed period of MBBS studies. This statement has been submitted in response to the petition that had been lodged against the order issued by the NMC directing the medical colleges to return the excessive fees charged for six months.

The strict policy implemented by the NMC is because of the numerous complaints received from the MBBS students all across India against the practice of charging the extra semester/year fees of the institutions due to administrative delay or internship. The NMC has clarified that the administrative delay or exam schedules do not change the basic 4.5-year educational block. The Kerala High Court had already ordered a temporary stay for three months of the direction of the refund of fees. 

The Core Argument: Academic Duration vs. Internship

The NMC elucidated on the strict legal distinction between the academic calendar and the practical training involved in the undergraduate medical course:

• The Academic Calendar (4.5 Years): As per the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and CBME Guidelines, the prescribed academic curriculum takes exactly 54 months (4.5 years). It is the only period during which institutions may charge tuition fees.  

• Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) (1 Year): During the last year, there will be solely practical and supervised hospital services. The NMC emphasized the point that internship is a training period and not the academic period during which students will be providing hospital services (and are eligible for stipends), and not studying.

"The submission made by the NMC before the HC is 'the internship is a mandatory training component and does not come within the prescribed academic period. Hence, the charging of fees for five or five-and-a-half years by the medical colleges against medical students will be unjust enrichment'."