Maharashtra medical colleges allowed to charge NRI students 5 times regular fee

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has permitted private medical colleges to charge students applying through the management, NRI, and institutional quotas fees that are up to five times higher than the amount approved by the Fees Regulatory Authority (FRA) for general admission.
This will be applicable for current admission sessions for ayurvedic, homoeopathic, and unani courses across the state. As a result, the fees at some colleges have exceeded ₹35 lakh to ₹40 lakh per year, leading to parents and activists raising concerns.
Previously, the fee limit for these quotas was capped at two times the amount approved by the FRA for general admission. Education activists have highlighted that the unusually high cutoff for MBBS admissions this year has led many students, who cannot afford the fees at deemed or private medical colleges, to opt for BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) and other alternative courses instead. They warned that this shift in choice may have a significant long-term impact on students.
Due to complications arising from the nationwide protests earlier this year over the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) results, the cutoff is higher than usual, which has affected many aspiring medical students, said Sudha Shenoy, a medical education activist. “Now, the government seems to be shutting all doors for students, which is both unfair and one-sided.”
Shenoy also highlighted that the state government has not secured approval for additional MBBS seats from the National Medical Council (NMC). And now, the decision to allow private medical colleges to hike their quota fees is creating further confusion for both parents and students.
“My daughter scored 501 in NEET, but with the current cutoff trends, it seems she won’t secure admission to MBBS or even BAMS in a government medical college,” a parent said. “After reviewing our finances, we decided to opt for BAMS in a private college. We found a college in Sangli where the admission fee through the institutional quota was ₹6,00,000. However, the college has now issued a notice stating that the government will allow them to charge five times the original fee, meaning the students will have to pay the difference in the future.”
Another parent, who’s seeking admission for their child in an Ahmednagar-based college, said, the new fee structure will completely disrupt their financial planning for the entire duration of education. “According to the college’s website, students admitted through the institutional quota must currently pay ₹6,99,500 per year, while the regular fee is ₹2,81,500. For NRI students, the fee goes up to ₹11,17,500. With the new rules in place, these fees are expected to increase further.”
An official working in the state government admitted the decision has not been taken in an appropriate manner. The government must consider the views of parents before finalising a hike in fees, but instead took a one-sided decision in favour of the management, they added.
Dharmendra Mishra, a member of the FRA, said that the authority follows a specific formula to set the fee structure for each college. “If colleges charge three to five times the regular fees, they are required to report this as income in their financial statements, which many don’t follow regularly. We have learned that some colleges collect fees in cash without declaring it as income. To address this, the FRA will ask colleges to disclose the amount charged for management seats during the fee reconciliation process.”