Kerala: Doctors oppose Medical Council high fee

There were few medical practitioners who could not get their council registration renewed on time because of various reasons and now the registration fee hike has caused reluctance among doctors to get them the renewal.

"Many of us did not know about the deadline. Even if we crossed the deadline, charging a fee of ₹10,000 is a rip-off by the council," , a Thalassery-based clinician alleged, while speaking to the Hindu

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The council justification seems to be lack of registration/renewal by the doctors in the state.  Dr Mohanan, a member of the TCMC, informed The Hindu that the council had decided on a late fee of Rs 10,000 past the final deadline, as many doctors still seemed not bothered about registration renewal. The council can remove the name of the medical practitioners who do not renew their registration with the medical council

"The TCMC does not have a clear idea of how many doctors are practising in the State now as even the names of deceased as well as those who left the State still figure in the register. Many doctors have chosen not to take the TCMC directive seriously and think that their registration is forever. The MCI had at one point insisted that registration of doctors be renewed every five years and that each doctor should have 30 hours of CME as credits. Kerala is yet to implement that provision," Dr. Mohanan added.

The holographic certificate also seems to be under question.

K.V. Babu, a doctor and public health activist told The Hindu, "According to the information received through RTI, the TCMC entered into a contract with C-DIT for printing the high security hologram certificate in 2009 and the cost of one such certificate works out to be 5.85. Issue of hologram certificates by universities or driving licences by the State are routine affairs now, for which additional charges are not levied. There is no rationale in the TCMC charging such a huge amount for something that costs less than 6."