NEET: KEA Scraps Penalty for Candidates who cancel State Quota Seats for National Quota Seats
Bengaluru: Granting relief to the medical aspirants, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has decided to scrap the penalty of Rs 50,000 imposed on candidates who cancel State quota seats and opt for All India Quota seats during the second round of National Eligibility-Entrance Test (NEET) counselling for admission to medical and dental courses.
Additionally, KEA is taking steps to provide a 'quit' option to facilitate candidates who cancel the State quota seats and opt for All India Quota seats.
Previously, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) used to announce the seat allotment result for the admission to the national quota medical and dental courses for the second round counselling.
Later, KEA used to announce the seat allotment result for the State quota seats. Thereafter, the candidates who secured seats under both the State and All India Quota and wanted to get admitted to the National quota seat, had to pay Rs 50,000 as a penalty for cancelling the State quota seats. Consequently, the cancelled seats were offered in the mop-up round.
As per the latest media report by The Hindu, this year, KEA has taken steps to conduct the second round of NEET counselling before the MCC. Commenting on this, H. Prasanna, Executive Director of KEA, told The Hindu, "This year, during the second round of counselling, we will announce the mock results of medical and dental seats as soon as the choice entry is completed. Then, we will wait until the announcement of MCC seat selection results for the national quota seats. After the results come, students will be given the ‘quit’ option. If anyone wants to quit from the counselling process and decides to cancel their medical and dental seats, they can go."
KEA has also decided to waive the penalty imposed on the students if they want to switch to AIQ seats from the State quota seats. Confirming this, the KEA Executive Director added, "No penalty will be imposed on the candidates who cancel their State quota medical and dental seats for national quota seats. We will refund the complete fees paid by these candidates. Then we will re-run the second round by including the seats that are quit and announce the seat selection results. This will be more helpful for the students."
Already, the first round of counselling for admission to medical and dental courses in Karnataka has been completed and the KEA has started the counselling process for the second round. As per the rules, the candidates who failed to secure a seat in the college of their choice in the first round, and selected Choice-2, to participate in the second round, have to pay the college fee in full.
Meanwhile, the candidates who secured an engineering seat or a seat in other courses in the first round but did not get admitted to the college and want a medical or dental seat in the second round, have to pay a caution deposit of Rs 1 lakh.
Also Read: NEET 2025: KEA Released Revised Schedule for Round 1 Allotted Candidates
