NMC cautions students against fake medical colleges, asks them to verify approvals

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The National Medical Commission (NMC) has cautioned students and parents against enrolling in medical colleges without verifying their statutory recognition and regulatory approvals, warning that fraudulent institutions could be misleading aspirants through advertisements, websites, social media promotions and unauthorised admission offers.

In a recent advisory issued in compliance with directions from the Supreme Court, the NMC has urged students to independently verify a medical college’s approval status, permitted student intake, and admission permissions for the relevant academic year before seeking admission or making any payment.

The advisory follows the Supreme Court taking cognisance of the issue in Ayesha Jain v. Amity University, Noida & Ors., an ongoing case in which the Court directed regulatory bodies, including the NMC, to caution students and parents against dealing with unauthorised educational institutions. The directions came in the context of a reported instance of a purported fake medical college operating from a farmhouse and claiming to offer various courses.

The Commission has clarified that a medical college’s presence in an official list, or its previous operation, does not automatically establish that it has permission to admit students in subsequent academic years. Candidates must check the approval granted for the particular year and the number of seats sanctioned through official NMC and Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) records.

It has also cautioned students against relying exclusively on prospectuses, websites, advertisements, social media posts or documents such as purported Letters of Permission and approval certificates circulated by institutions or their representatives. Any doubts regarding the authenticity of such documents should be verified directly with the concerned regulatory authority.

For admissions governed by counselling procedures, candidates have been asked to use official channels, including the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), wherever applicable, or the competent State and Union Territory counselling authorities. The Commission has also advised students against making admission-related payments to unauthorised agents, personal bank accounts or unverified intermediaries.

Highlighting the importance of distinguishing between regulatory approvals, the NMC said affiliation, registration or recognition granted by one authority for a particular purpose should not be construed as permission from the Commission to conduct an MBBS course. Each statutory requirement must be independently satisfied.

The advisory also asks students and parents to exercise caution when institutions make extraordinary claims about clinical training, hospital facilities and admission opportunities. The existence of a building, office or website, it said, does not establish that an institution is legally authorised to impart medical education.

Suspected fake medical colleges, unauthorised MBBS courses, forged permission letters and fraudulent admission offers can be reported to the NMC through its official communication channels. Complaints may also be made to the State or U.T. medical education departments, relevant regulatory authorities, and local police. Students have been advised to preserve advertisements, payment receipts, correspondence and website details as supporting evidence.

The Commission has separately clarified that courses in pharmacy, nursing, Ayurveda, and allied healthcare programmes fall under different statutory or competent regulatory authorities. Their recognition and approval must be checked with the respective regulators.

The advisory asks the public to refer to the NMC’s official website and relevant regulatory and counselling portals for updated information before proceeding with admissions or payments.