Overcharging Complaints! Maha FRA to Conduct Surprise Inspections at Private Medical Colleges
Surprise Inspection
Mumbai: Amid the controversy over the Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) delisting a Sangli-based private medical college for overcharging fees, the Fee Panel has now decided to conduct surprise inspections at the private medical colleges across the State following complaints of excessive fees charged during admissions.
This comes after the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) submitted a report that highlighted the irregularities in nine private medical colleges, HT has reported.
The matter came to light after several students and their parents alleged that private medical institutes were demanding additional fees beyond the amounts fixed by the Fee Regulating Authority. The Yova Sena, MUCTA Teachers Associations along with other associations and individual parents had also raised such complaints. They had alleged that some of the medical colleges were extorting large sums under the guise of "development fees".
Responding to such complaints, the State Government had set up a committee to probe these allegations. Consequently, the committee, comprising more than 20 professors from the government medical colleges and their officials, conducted inspections at 13 private medical colleges across the State and submitted their findings to the Regulatory Authority on November 27.
Following this, the matter was forwarded to the FRA Grievance Redressal Cell (GRC) for further examination. To discuss the issue, GRC held a meeting on December 16, which was attended by FRA Member Advocate Dharmendra Mishra and Member Secretary S. Ramamurthy.
As per the latest media report by Hindustan Times, during the meeting, it was decided by FRA to compare the findings of the DMER report with its own financial data to find out and verify any discrepancies.
Commenting on this, FRA Member Advocate Mishra told HT, "We are obligated to address students’ grievances. After reviewing the report, we decided to further investigate. We will compare the findings with the financial data available with us."
Now, to ensure that things are transparent, FRA has also decided to conduct surprise visits to all colleges under its jurisdiction, particularly medical colleges that have received multiple complaints. Referring to this new development, Mishra added, "We will visit these institutions without prior notice to scrutinize their practices."
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported how recently the FRA delisted Sangli-based Prakash Prakash Institute of Medical Science and Research for allegedly charging more than approved fees from the PG medical aspriants. This year, the ad-hoc fee for PG medical courses was fixed at Rs 10.5 lakh by the FRA, however, the college mentioned Rs 16 lakh as the annual fee on its official website.
When the students complained about this to FRA and sought clarification, the Fee Authority had directed the college to follow the ad-hoc fees fixed by the body for the MD/MS courses offered by the college from this year. Despite this, the college allegedly refused to grant admission unless students paid the higher fees displayed on the website and denied admission to many students over the fee issues. Following this, the Fee Regulating Authority delisted the college.
Challenging this decision, the college ahs now approached the Bombay High Court and the matter has been listed for further hearing on 20th January 2025.
In the quota admission process for medical courses, 15% of the seats in the private medical colleges are allocated under the institutional quota. However, students alleged that they were denied admission or forced to pay extra fees for these seats.
To address these issues, the Medical Education Department appointed a two-member committee at each college to investigate the nine colleges accused of overcharging. Commenting on the matter, a Mumbai-based medical education activist told the Daily, "The FRA’s surprise inspections aim to curb such irregularities and ensure that private colleges adhere to the fee structures set by the authority, safeguarding students and parents from exploitation."
Subhash Athavale, general secretary of the MUCTA Teachers Association told HT that they had submitted a specific complaint to the FRA in this regard, supported by documentary evidence.
"However, it was not taken into consideration under the pretext of stakeholder involvement. This failure to act has created opportunities for corruption and encouraged such practices.” He further called for a higher investigative authority to intervene and take decisive action regarding the fee-fixation process," he said.
