MBBS Fees: No Charge for Internship Year, NMC Rules 2026

Your medical college can charge MBBS tuition fee only for the 4.5 year academic course, which is 54 months of teaching. It cannot charge any tuition fee for the final one year compulsory rotating medical internship. The National Medical Commission made this clear in a public notice dated 7 April 2026, after complaints that some colleges were billing students for the full 5 or 5.5 years.

The internship year is not classroom teaching. It is supervised hospital work during which the college owes the intern a monthly stipend, not the other way round. So if your fee demand or prospectus shows tuition for a fifth or a five and a half year period, that part is not allowed.

The notice splits the MBBS programme into two clear parts. Use this table to read your own fee demand line by line.

This split applies to all medical colleges, institutions and universities under NMC, both government and private. The fee may differ from college to college, but no college may bill tuition for the internship year.

The National Medical Commission relied on Section 10 and Section 24 of the National Medical Commission Act 2019, read with the Competency Based Medical Education Guidelines 2024 framed under the Graduate Medical Education Regulations. These prescribe that the MBBS course is 4.5 years or 54 months of academic study, followed by one year of compulsory rotating internship.

The notice records that charging fees for periods beyond the academic study duration, where no teaching is given, is not consistent with this structure. It cites the Supreme Court rulings in T.M.A. Pai Foundation, Islamic Academy of Education and P. A. Inamdar, which held that fee structures must be reasonable, transparent, non exploitative and matched to the academic facilities actually provided. It also notes the Supreme Court interim directions in Abhishek Yadav v. Union of India, WP No. 730 of 2022, which took serious note of non payment of stipend and imposition of internship related charges.

Separately, under the Regulations for Compulsory Rotating Internship 2021, every intern is entitled to a stipend during the 12 month internship. The amount is fixed by the State, university or institution, so it varies, but the entitlement itself is statutory. An intern paying tuition for the internship year is therefore facing the exact problem the regulator has now barred.

If your fee demand, prospectus or admission letter charges tuition for a fifth or five and a half year period, you can challenge it. Information is your strongest first tool, because a clear paper trail forces the college to justify each line.

1. Read the fee schedule carefully. Mark any tuition that runs beyond 54 months or 4.5 years. That portion is what the NMC notice bars.
2. Write to the college in writing. Send a plain letter to the Dean or Principal asking them to withdraw the internship year tuition and refund any amount already paid, citing NMC Public Notice CDN-13011 1 2026 dated 7 April 2026.
3. File an RTI with the government college or the State Directorate of Medical Education. Ask for the approved fee structure, the year wise break up, and the basis for any internship year charge. A government college and the State medical education department are public authorities under the RTI Act 2005. You can prepare this with the AI RTI Drafter.
4. Escalate to the National Medical Commission. Send a written complaint to the NMC, since the notice says any non compliance will be viewed seriously and action initiated under the National Medical Commission Act 2019.
5. If the first reply is unhelpful, appeal. If your RTI is ignored or refused, use the First Appeal Builder to push for a proper answer.

For the full method of framing questions, deadlines and appeals, see The RTI Playbook. If you are still choosing a college, our guide on MBBS medical college admission 2026 explains the admission and fee steps. The base rules sit in the RTI Act 2005.

Take a student we will call Kashvi Pathak, joining a private medical college. Her admission letter shows tuition for 5.5 years. Reading the year wise break up, she sees that one full year of tuition falls in the internship period. She writes to the Principal citing the 7 April 2026 NMC notice, and files an RTI with the State Directorate of Medical Education asking for the approved fee structure. The college withdraws the internship year tuition, because it cannot show any teaching for that year. The figures will differ in every case, but the principle is fixed: no tuition for the internship year.

No. The NMC public notice dated 7 April 2026 directs that fee for the MBBS course shall be charged only for the prescribed academic duration of 4.5 years. The one year compulsory rotating internship carries no tuition fee.

The fee chargeable academic period is 4.5 years, which the NMC counts as 54 months of academic study. After this comes one year of compulsory rotating internship, which is not a fee chargeable teaching period.

Yes. The notice is addressed to all medical colleges, institutions and universities under NMC, which covers both government and private colleges. Private colleges may still set their own reasonable academic fee, but not for the internship year.

Yes. Under the Regulations for Compulsory Rotating Internship 2021, an intern is entitled to a monthly stipend during the 12 month internship. The exact amount is fixed by the State, university or institution, so it varies.

The notice says any instance of non compliance shall be viewed seriously and appropriate action initiated by the Commission under the National Medical Commission Act 2019 and the applicable regulations and court judgements.

An RTI to a government college or the State Directorate of Medical Education can get you the approved fee structure and the year wise break up. That paper trail shows whether any tuition was wrongly charged for the internship year, and supports your refund request.

• National Medical Commission, Public Notice No. CDN-13011 1 2026 Coordination, dated 7 April 2026, Clarification on Fee Chargeable for MBBS Course Duration.
• National Medical Commission, Regulations for Compulsory Rotating Internship 2021.
• National Medical Commission Act 2019, Section 10 and Section 24.