FRC can fix fees only for prescribed MBBS course duration, Kerala High Court told

The National Medical Commission (NMC) informed the Kerala High Court that the Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) is empowered to determine and regulate fees only for the duration of the medical course prescribed by the commission.

The authority to prescribe or determine the duration of a medical course is vested exclusively in the NMC under the applicable statutory framework. Therefore, the Fee Regulatory Committee cannot alter or determine the course duration and is required to fix fees in accordance with the duration prescribed by the NMC, the commission said in a statement filed before the High Court in response to a petition by the Kerala Private Medical College Managements’ Association.

The association has sought a declaration that its member colleges are entitled to collect fees from students already admitted, in accordance with the fee finalised by the Fee Regulatory Committee and approved by the State government.

The NMC submitted that the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (NMC Act), was enacted to regulate the medical education system in the country. Section 10(1)(i) of the Act empowers the commission to frame guidelines for determining fees and other charges for 50% of the seats in private medical institutions and deemed-to-be universities governed by the provisions of the Act.

The NMC Act empowers the Under Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of the NMC to determine standards for undergraduate medical education. Accordingly, the UGMEB has framed the Under Graduate Medical Education Regulations (UGMER) and the Competency-Based Medical Education Guidelines, 2024 (CBME), which prescribe that the MBBS course comprises four and a half years of academic study followed by one year of Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI).

The internship is a mandatory training component and does not form part of the prescribed academic duration. Therefore, medical colleges are not justified in collecting fees for five or five-and-a-half years from medical students, as doing so amounts to unjust enrichment. The fact that the overall period may be extended due to examinations, the declaration of results or other administrative reasons does not alter the prescribed academic duration of the MBBS course, the NMC submitted before the High Court.