Delhi Medical Council Faces Controversy Over Rs 28 Crore Fee Collection, Yet operates from rented office

New Delhi: A fresh controversy has emerged regarding the functioning of the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) in recent years after an RTI reply revealed startling details about the huge amount of fees collected from medical professionals for various registration-related services over the past 4 years. Despite this, the Council operated out of a rented office space without owning a facility of its own. 

The RTI revealed that the Delhi Medical Council collected more than Rs 28 crore in registration-related fees between the financial years 2020-21 and 2023-24. However, the Council stated that it does not maintain separate records for each type of registration service.

The RTI application, filed by an individual whose identity Medical Dialogues has chosen to keep confidential, sought details of how much money was collected for different registration services. These included provisional registration, permanent registration, renewal of registration, name change, additional qualifications, certificate of good standing, extract from the State Medical Register, No Objection Certificates, and other related documents.

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In its response to the RTI application dated March 28, 2025, the DMC stated that although it receives fees for various services, the records are not maintained category-wise. Instead, the DMC provided the total amount collected year-wise for all such services combined.

The response signed by Sandeep Mittal, Accounts Officer and Public Information Officer of the DMC, mentioned, "Based on the records available in the office of the Delhi Medical Council, it is informed that no record, segregating the details of fees, received by the Delhi Medical Council on account of provisional registration/permanent registration/renewal of registration with Delhi Medical Council/change of name/additional qualification/certificate of good standing/extract of State Medical Register of the Delhi Medical Council/no objection certificate and matter connected therewith or incidental thereto, is maintained in the office of the Delhi Medical Council."

According to the reply, the council received Rs 5.51 crore in 2020-2021, Rs 7.63 crore in 2021-22, Rs 7.66 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 7.38 crore in 2023-24. The total amount collected over the four years stands at approximately Rs 28.2 crore. The Council also mentioned that the applicant can appeal the reply to the First Appellate Authority within 30 days, as per the RTI Act, 2005.

Now, serious allegations of negligence and corruption are being levelled against the Council, with doctors questioning how such a major administrative body continues to operate from a rented office. 

Commenting on the matter, the RTI activist who filed the application told Medical Dialogues, "At first, I visited their website for details regarding the registration fees, but the website wasn’t working. So I asked the Council how much fee had been collected for each registration service. Instead, they gave me a combined total for the last four years. Now the question is—where is all this money being spent when the Council functions so poorly and is full of corrupt doctors? This is a major concern."

The Delhi Medical Council is an autonomous statutory body enacted under the Delhi Medical Council Act 1997 to regulate the practice of the modern system of medicine in Delhi. DMC also ensures that private doctors in the city are following ethical practices.

It is the only statutory body in Delhi to handle complaints of medical negligence and professional misconduct in Delhi. The council comprises 25 members, including eight elected by around 100,000 registered allopathic doctors in the city, one by the 20,000-member Delhi Medical Association, 10 by medical college faculties, four government nominees, and two former officials.

The information came to light after Dr Rohan Krishnan shared the RTI response on a popular social media platform 'X' and tagged the Delhi Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta, urging her to look at the matter. 

Dr Rohan said in the post, "Gupta ji kindly see the status of Delhi Medical Council & gross incidence of incompetence, Alleged Corruption by the council. Irony that DMC collected 28 crore rupees from the registration of doctors in the past 4 years and still has to rent out its own office."

In this regard, the Federation of All India Medical Association in their 'X' handle also re-shared the issue and said, "Delhi Medical Council needs major revamp. Strict action must be taken against the culprit doctors. We stand in solidarity with the medical community and doctors who are corrupt and should be punished."

Medical Dialogues had previously reported about the dissolution of DMC, which was approved by Lt Governor V K Saxena over allegations of irregularities. Following this, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will now handle the doctors' registration in Delhi. Saxena also directed the health department to reconstitute the DMC within two months.

Also read- Delhi Medical Council dissolved on orders of LG