By Barsha Misra
New Delhi: The MBBS fee issue at Pune-based DY Patil Medical College has now reached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The Ministry of Consumer Affairs escalated the matter to the PMO after a Right to Information (RTI) application was filed in this regard by a Postgraduate medical student at the institute.Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that students had alleged that D Y Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre was collecting MBBS fees for 5 years instead of 4.5 years.It was alleged that the college has been collecting this extra fee for the last three years, and with an annual intake of 250 MBBS students, around 750 students are affected due to this. Since the annual MBBS fee at the medical college is around Rs 32 lakh, the extra amount collected from the students is in hundreds of crores of rupees.Also Read: Allegations of Fake Patient Files, Misuse of Govt Funds, No EWS Reservation: NMC Seeks response from DY Patil Medical CollegeRTI before the Ministry of Consumer Affairs: Recently, filing a Right to Information (RTI) application before the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, a PG medico sought the certified copy of the action taken report, details of steps taken by the authorities to address the grievance of 750 MBBS students regarding illegal fees collected by the concerned medical college.In response, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs transferred the RTI under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act, 2005, to the CPIO, Prime Minister’s Office, to furnish the reply to the applicant directly.Earlier, the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC received numerous complaints/grievances in this regard from the students. Consequently, it had asked the Directorate of Medical Education (DME), Maharashtra, to investigate the matter and take proper action, if required. DME Maharashtra had also been directed to clarify if any medical college in Maharashtra was charging full fees for the 5th year instead of charging only for 4.5 years, the duration of the MBBS course.Back then, NMC had also clarified that these complaints received from the students would be reviewed during the approval process for annual renewal of the concerned medical college for the Academic Year 2025-2026.Consequently, NMC asked DME Maharashtra to expedite its investigations into these allegations and send a compliance report to the Commission for taking necessary action.Recently, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has also sought clarification from the institute in this regard. On 05.06.2025, Dr. B. Srinivas, the Deputy Director General (MEC) and Member of the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), wrote to the Dean of the Institute, requesting clarification on the vague fee structure at the medical college and the fifth-year MBBS fees charged to medical students.NMC letter to the Directorate of Health Services: While there has been no action yet against these allegations, NMC recently wrote to the Director of the Directorate of Health Services in this regard. Referring to the grievance received on the CPGRAM portal, NMC clarified that as a regulatory authority, it issues required regulation/guidelines.It also made it clear that issues relating to complaints against charging full tuition fees for the 5th academic year are the responsibility of the concerned State Medical Education. Accordingly, NMC in the letter dated 26.06.2025, asked DME to take appropriate action in this matter within 7 days.”DME is requested to take appropriate action in this matter under intimation to this Commission within 07 days positively,” NMC UGMEB Director Sukh Lal Meena mentioned in the letter addressed to the Director of DHS Maharashtra.On the same day, the Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Rajendra Shukla, wrote to the NMC Secretary and asked to address the grievances raised by an MS General Surgery student at DY Patil Medical College and “conduct a holistic and time-bound review of the grievances raised”.Also Read: MBBS fees for 5 years instead of 4.5: MCC tells DY Patil Medical College to clarify its fee structure