Supreme Court bans collection of extra fees by private medical colleges: T.N. serves as a case study

The Hindu

6 days ago

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that self-financing medical colleges should not collect additional fees and adhere to the subsidised fee structure for BPL students. The court also ruled that if the students have paid any additional fees so far, they are entitled to a refund.
This matter was taken up by the Supreme Court while upholding a High Court order that invalidated the Kerala Fee Regulatory Committee's notification directing private medical colleges to deposit higher fees collected from NRI students into a State corpus fund. While the apex court directed that the self-financing colleges are entitled to retain the fees transferred to the State, it also mentioned that 'the State of Kerala or the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee is at liberty to direct the colleges to furnish their accounts to establish that the directions have been complied with.'
The recent ruling has reignited discussions about state-level fee regulation committees, established following a 2003 Supreme Court mandate requiring every state to form independent fee oversight bodies. These committees, headed by retired high court judges, are tasked with monitoring fee structures in private colleges, including self-financing medical institutions. However, questions persist about their effectiveness and whether private medical colleges comply with the prescribed fee structures.
Case study
Tamil Nadu, home to 38 government medical colleges and numerous private ones, serves as an example. The State has had a fee fixation committee since 2007—currently headed by Justice R. Pongiappan—and the Tamil Nadu Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Collection of Capitation Fee) Act, 1992.
In April this year, State Health Minister Ma Subramanian warned institutions against charging students for providing internships. This followed his statement last year, emphasising government action against colleges overcharging medical students. Earlier, in 2022, Medical Secretary Senthil Kumar had similarly issued stern warnings to private colleges violating the fee structure set by the regulatory committee.
The general secretary of the Doctors' Association for Social Equality (DASE), G.R. Ravindranath, said, 'The collection of exorbitant tuition and additional fees continues to plague self-financing colleges in the state, despite the Fee Fixation Committee's regulations.'
According to the Fee Fixation Committe's prescribed structure, private medical colleges are only allowed to collect ₹4.5/yr lakh and ₹14/yr lakh for government and management quota MBBS seats; the PG fee structure is set at ₹3.5 lakh for government seats and ₹15.5 lakh for management seats, he said.
'None of the self-financing medical colleges follow this fee structure. Almost always they demand more money,' said 26-year-old Dr Kavin B, who secured a PG government quota seat during State Counselling at a Kanyakumari-based private medical college.
'Although I was only required to pay ₹3.5 lakh, the college asked me for ₹15 lakh,' she said.
Many students, including Dr Kavin, gave up the allotted seats as the management demanded fees above the mandated structure. 'For management quota seats, the college demanded ₹45 lakh, three times the prescribed fees!' she noted.
She's waiting to retake the PG NEET exam, which is scheduled for August 3 this year and hopes to land a seat in a government college. Some colleges even force students to sign a bond, requiring them to pay the full tuition fees for all years—even if they leave the seat midway—plus an additional ₹15 lakh as a bond penalty, she added.
Dr. Praveen (name changed) recalls his experience trying to join a reputed self-financing medical college for his post-graduation. He was allotted a government quota seat—M.S. Orthopaedics—in the private medical college during the stray round of counselling conducted in February. 'The last date to download the allotment order and pay the fees was February 28, but when we reached the college, they demanded ₹17 lakh in tuition fees alone, plus additional hostel fees,' he said.
The student added that the college administration continued to negotiate until 3 p.m., forcing him to miss the deadline to secure his seat. 'The management made it very clear that I must pay the tuition fees as demanded—in cash—and that no bill would be provided.' This was despite his requests for a bill so that he could apply for an education loan.
'They also said that the stipend paid would be only ₹10,000, as against the ₹37,000 set by the State,' he said.
What followed were several visits and complaints filed with the Director of Medical Education and Research, which finally led to a government order from IAS officer, Dr. P. Senthilkumar, Principal Secretary to Government, requesting the reopening of the allotment order and declaring the seat as 'joined'.
'Despite the GO, the management did not budge,' said Dr. Praveen. 'If not ₹17 lakh, they asked me to pay at least ₹10 lakh extra.'
Dr Praveen had to forfeit his seat. 'This one year has gone to waste. I lost the money deposited for counselling and was unable to sit for the last round because they made it look like I gave up the seat,' he shared.
He also added that he has received acknowledgement from the Fee Fixation Committee regarding the complaint raised, but is awaiting further response.
Why some T.N. students move to other States
Some students from Tamil Nadu are opting to study in neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, citing that private colleges in these States tend to stick to the government-mandated fee structures.
Dr. Surya Prakesh is pursuing his MD in Anaesthesia at a private college in Kalburgi. 'I applied under the open quota and got the seat. I paid the exact fee set by the fee committee, nothing more, and I also got the stipend amount,' he said. According to the Karnataka Examinations Authority's Revised Provisional Fee Structure 2024-25 for medical colleges, the prescribed fee for MD-Anaesthesia (Private Fees) is ₹13,88,744.
'This is not the case in TN; they routinely ignore fee committee guidelines, which is why I chose to apply in Karnataka,' he adds.
Two final-year MBBS students, who wished to remain anonymous, shared similar stories. They are studying at PES Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, a private medical college in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh.
One of the students said that four years ago, when he got a management seat at a Kanyakumari-based private medical college, they asked for ₹18 lakh in tuition fees alone, as opposed to the ₹12.20 lakh prescribed by the fee fixation committee back then.
'We pay ₹12.5 lakh in Andhra. There are about 30 students in our batch from TN. Even though we were eligible for management seats, due to fee issues, people came here,' he said.
The other noted a shift in seat allocation: 'In 2021, 30-35 seats were for out-of-state students. Now, Andhra prioritises local candidates, allotting only 8-10 seats for outsiders.'
Hidden fees
The DASE General Secretary also mentioned that, in addition to tuition fees, self-financing colleges demand inflated fees under various miscellaneous categories, including uniforms, mess, hostel, and bus fees. 'They demand further money through all these hidden costs, which pushes students into a corner,' he said.
He added that the government must strictly monitor and prohibit cash transactions that these private colleges demand, and implement penalties against those who fail to adhere to the fee fixation committee's guidelines.
Speaking about measures the TN government has taken to support students from marginalised and economically deprived communities, he said the 2020 bill providing 7.5% reservation for government school students was a good gesture, but that more needs to be done.
'Access to coaching centres is one such issue,' he said. While state-run coaching institutes offer NEET preparation to marginalised students, the government should enforce stricter guidelines to ensure that private coaching centres also follow a reasonable fee structure.