NMC draft amendment revises documentation for medical colleges, incomplete applications to be rejected

New Delhi: Entities or medical colleges seeking to add or increase seats may soon face strict documentation and compliance norms, as the National Medical Commission (NMC) has proposed amendments to the Establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023.

The draft amendments mainly modify provisions under Clause 9 and Clause 31 of the regulations, which deal with documents required at the time of application for setting up of medical colleges starting new postgraduate (PG) courses, increasing seats and penalties for violations.

One of the major proposed changes is in Clause 9.

Current Clause 9 states that "No application submitted by the eligible entity shall be entertained unless it is accompanied with –

a. Essentiality Certificate (EC) issued by the concerned State Government or Union Territory administration or the appropriate authority as the case may be unless otherwise specified. The EC shall be valid at the time of application; and

b. A Consent of Affiliation (CoA) letter obtained from a recognized university, issued in the name of the applicant entity in writing. The CoA shall be valid at the time of application; and

c. Documentary proof indicating the establishment of a corpus fund by the entity dedicatedly applicable to functioning of the new medical institution year after year; and

d. A solvency certificate issued by a Chartered Accountant within ninety days prior to the last date of submission of the application as mandated by the Notification issued by the MARB; and 

e. Documents by way of proof that such reasonable area of land is either owned or arranged under lease or such other arrangement by the eligible entity; and

f. Capabilities with regard to the provision of required basic infrastructure, administrative and financial support of the applicant, if the eligible entity is other than Central or a State Government or Union Territory administration; and

g. Documentary proof of owning or running a hospital of required capacity as indicated in the MSRs.

h. Proof indicating remittance of prescribed application fee and bank guarantee; and

i. Any such other documents are to be notified from time to time by the MARB"

Now, the NMC has proposed to replace it with- “The following documents shall be submitted by the eligible entity-”.

Under the existing Clause 9(a), applicants were required to submit an Essentiality Certificate (EC) issued by the concerned State Government or Union Territory administration. The EC had to be valid at the time of application.

Now, the draft amendment mentions that "Essentiality Certificate (EC) issued by the concerned State Government or Union Territory administration or the appropriate authority as the case may be unless otherwise specified. The EC shall be valid at the time of application. This clause shall not be applicable for established colleges applying for starting of new Post-graduate courses."

Clause 9(b) earlier required a Consent of Affiliation (CoA) letter from a recognized university, issued in the name of the applicant entity. The revised clause now states that the CoA can be issued in the name of the applicant/the Medical College/ the entity. 

"A Consent of Affiliation (CoA) letter obtained from a recognized university, issued in the name of the applicant/the Medical College/ the entity in writing. The CoA shall be valid at the time of submission of application."

The draft also tightens the rule regarding incomplete applications. Previously, the first proviso after Explanation 3, under clause 9 states that any incomplete applications received, meaning applications without the mandated documents specified in the present Regulation, shall be rejected by the MARB.

Now, the revised explanation says "Provided any incomplete applications received, meaning applications without the mandated documents specified in the present Regulation, shall not constitute a valid/eligible scheme as per Section 28(2) of National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and the same be rejected by the MARB without any opportunity as mandated under Section 28(3) of the NMC Act and clause 13 of this regulation."

The NMC has also proposed amendments under Clause 31, which deals with action against medical institutions. 

The previous clause 31 (c) which stated "Withholding processing of application for any new scheme/s for that academic year or for a such number of years," will be amended as, "Withholding processing or rejection of application(s) for any new scheme/s or for increase in seats for that academic year or for a such number of years."

Clause 31 (h) previously mentioned that "Any attempt to pressurise MARB or NMC through individuals or agency will lead to immediate halt of the processing the application/request by the medical Institution." This will now be amended as, "Any attempt to pressurise MARB or NMC through individuals or agency will lead to immediate halt of the processing or rejection of the application(s)/request(s) by the medical Institution."

Medical Dialogues recently reported that the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued a gazette notification proposing draft amendments, including the addition and removal of clauses, to the Establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations 2023.

The gazette notification, issued on February 17, 2026, proposes changes to the “Establishment of New Medical Institutions, Starting of New Medical Courses, Increase of Seats for Existing Courses & Assessment & Rating Regulations, 2023.”

Also read- NMC proposes mandatory dedicated corpus fund for running medical colleges