Kerala HC stays NMC notice to colleges on MBBS fee refund

Kochi: High court has stayed, for three months, the operation of a letter issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC) directing medical colleges to refund fees collected for an additional six-month period from MBBS students on the ground that the duration of MBBS course is 4.5 years and not five years.Justice P V Kunhikrishnan passed the order on an interlocutory application (IA) filed by the secretary of Kolenchery Medical College and others challenging the June 6 communication issued to the Director of Medical Education (DME), Kerala, directing immediate steps to refund the excess fees. HC permitted the petitioners, including Jubilee Mission Medical College, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences and Pushpagiri Medical College, to continue collecting the fee fixed by the fee regulatory committee for the time being.NMC had issued the notice on April 7, 2026, directing all medical colleges, institutions and universities to charge fees for the prescribed academic duration of 4.5 years and not five years. The petitioners subsequently moved HC and those writ petitions are presently pending before a single bench. Meanwhile, NMC issued a further communication on June 6 directing the DME to take steps to ensure the refund of excess fees, prompting the petitioners to file the present IA.

The Kolenchery college submitted that it was established in 2002 and that, since 2007, fees had been collected strictly in accordance with the rates fixed by the fee regulatory committee. It was pointed out that 19 batches of students had graduated from the college during this period and that implementation of NMC’s direction would impose a substantial financial burden of approximately Rs 44.28 crore on the institution.