Revise MBBS Fees in Private Medical Colleges: Madras HC tells Panel

Chennai: Observing that the Fee panel cannot set a uniform fee for all the colleges without considering the kind of facilities available at the institutes, the Madras High Court has directed the fee fixation committee to redo the MBBS course fee in self-financing medical colleges for the academic years 2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025.

For this, the HC bench has asked the committee to consider the amenities and facilities provided and the expenditure incurred by each institute. Further, the Court has also directed that the Committee strictly adhere to the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court on the fixation of fees, The New Indian Express has reported.

Accordingly, the HC Division bench of Justices S M Subramaniam and K Rajasekar instructed the committee to consider the revised proposals from the colleges and revise the fee structure as required.

The order was issued by the Court while considering a plea filed by Tamil Nadu Self-Financing Medical Colleges Association, which challenged the fee set by the committee for MBBS courses for the academic years 2022-2023, 2023-24, 2024-25.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that seeking an increase in the MBBS course fees for the 2022-2025 academic year, the private medical colleges in Tamil Nadu had filed a plea before the Madras High Court bench.

Earlier, while considering the plea, the HC bench had issued notices to the State Government and the Committee for Fixation of Fee for the private medical colleges.

In their plea, the association had pointed out that the committee headed by Justice NV Balasubramanian fixed the MBBS fee for 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020 as Rs 3.9 lakh for the government quota, Rs 12.5 lakh for management quota and Rs 23.5 lakh for NRI quota by its order date June 6, 2017.

Taking the issue of the pandemic into account, the fee panel chaired by Justice K Venkataraman maintained the fee structure for 2020-2021. The association had sought the committee to revise the annual fee for UG and PG medical courses for 2021-2022 considering the increase in the expenditure including salaries, delayed payment of fees and other difficulties in running the institutes.

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, appearing on behalf of the association, senior advocate Issac Mohanlal argued that the guidelines issued by the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in the case of Modern Dental College were not followed in letter and spirit and instead the fee fixation by the Committee resulted in discrimination among different types of institutions regarding amenities, infrastructure, and facilities.

He submitted, "Uniform fixation of fee has not been contemplated by supreme court. The respective institutions are at liberty to submit a proposal which must be considered in the context of the facilities provided to the students in the college concerned. However, the criteria have not been completely adhered to, which resulted in financial loss to some of the institutions who are members of the petitioner's association."

Arguing that the Supreme Court had stressed institute-based fee and not universal, the counsel also said that the fee panel had categorised the colleges into three categories and fixed the fee with a subtle variation of about only Rs 5,000. Accordingly, the colleges incurring more expenses were lefty to suffer more financial burdens. He also pointed out how individual colleges were not given an opportunity for personal hearing by the committee.

On the other hand, the committee contended that the expenses statement on 20 major heads, including salaries, electricity charges, purchase of equipment, books, printing and stationaries, research and developments, repairs and maintenance, were taken into account.

However, the HC bench observed that the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court had to be considered in letter and spirit "to strike a balance between the expenditure incurred by the institutions and to prevent collection of excess or exorbitant fee".

"The endeavor of the committee is to ensure the students are not being harassed by the institutions and also to protect the sustenance of the institutions and to impart better education," the bench was quoted noting by The New Indian Express.

Accordingly, the court directed the committee to give an opportunity of personal hearing to the institutes and consider/reconsider the documents they submit before taking a final call. It also said that the institutes were expected to keep in mind that they could not commercialise educational institutes, as directed by the Supreme Court.

Also Read: HC Issues Notice on Demand for MBBS Fee Hike by TN Private Medical Colleges