Supreme Court Makes Pre-Counselling Fee Disclosure A Must For PG Medical Colleges

New Delhi:Expressing concern over the widespread practice of seat blocking in postgraduate medical admissions, the Supreme Court has mandated pre-counselling fee disclosure by all private and deemed universities for NEET-PG.

A two-judge bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan said the malpractice of seat blocking distorted the actual availability of seats, fostered inequity among aspirants and often reduced the process to the one governed more by chance than merit.

“Seat blocking is not merely an isolated wrongdoing – it reflects deeper systemic flaws rooted in fragmented governance, lack of transparency, and weak policy enforcement. Although regulatory bodies have introduced disincentives and technical controls, the core challenges of synchronisation, real-time visibility, and uniform enforcement remain largely unaddressed," the top court said in its April 29 order.

The apex court further said: “Achieving a truly fair and efficient system will require more than policy tweaks; it demands structural coordination, technological modernisation, and robust regulatory accountability at both state and Central levels.”

The top court directed the implementation of a nationally-synchronised counselling calendar to align All-India Quota and state rounds and prevent seat blocking across systems.

“Mandate pre-counselling fee disclosure by all private/deemed universities, detailing tuition, hostel, caution deposit, and miscellaneous charges. Establish a centralised fee regulation framework under the National Medical Commission," it said.

The apex court further ordered authorities to enforce strict penalties for seat blocking, including forfeiture of security deposit, disqualification from future NEET-PG exams and blacklisting of complicit colleges.

"Permit upgrade windows post-round two for admitted candidates to shift to better seats without reopening counselling to new entrants. Publish raw scores, answer keys and normalisation formulae for transparency in multi-shift NEET-PG exams," the judgment said.

The verdict came on a petition filed by the Uttar Pradesh government and the director-general of medical education and training, Lucknow, challenging an order passed by the Allahabad High Court in 2018.

The High Court had directed the director-general to give compensation to two aggrieved students who had appeared in the NEET PG exams and take action against blocking of seats.