No penalty for candidates who cancel State quota medical seats for national quota seats

The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has decided to scrap the penalty of ₹50,000 imposed on candidates who cancel State quota seats and opt for national quota seats during the second round of NEET counseling for admission to medical and dental courses.

In addition, steps have been taken to provide a ‘quit’ option to facilitate candidates who cancel State quota seats and opt for national quota seats.

The first round of counselling for admission to medical and dental courses in the State has been completed, and KEA has started the counselling process for second round. Candidates who did not get a seat in the college they were aspiring for in the first round and selected Choice-2 to participate in the second round have to pay the college fee in full, as per the rules.

Students who got a seat in engineering and other courses in the first round but did not get admitted to the college and want a medical or dental seat in the second round, they have to pay a caution deposit of ₹1 lakh.

Earlier, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) used to announce the seat allotment result for admission to national quota medical and dental courses for the second round. Later, KEA announced the seat allotment result for the State quota seats. At this time, candidates who got a seat under both the quotas and wanted to get admitted to the national quota seat had to pay a penalty of ₹50,000 while cancelling the State quota seats. Then cancelled seats were offered in the mop-up round.

Steps to give quit option

However, this year, the KEA has taken steps to conduct the second round of NEET counselling before the MCC. Speaking to The Hindu, H. Prasanna, Executive Director of KEA, said, “This year, during the second round of counselling, we will announce the mock results of medical and dental seats as soon as the choice entry is completed. Then, we will wait until the announcement of MCC seat selection results for the national quota seats. After the results come, students will be given the ‘quit’ option. If anyone wants to quit from the counselling process and decides to cancel their medical and dental seats, they can go.”

No penalty

“No penalty will be imposed on the candidates who cancel their State quota medical and dental seats for national quota seats. We will refund the complete fees paid by these candidates. Then we will re-run the second round by including the seats that are quit and announce the seat selection results. This will be more helpful for the students,” he added.