Mumbai: At least eight private medical colleges in the state sought review of their fees fixed by Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) for the ongoing academic session. While many of these had demanded higher fees in their original proposals, in some cases, exceeding Rs 20 lakh, FRA has allowed marginal hikes of Rs 50,000 to up to Rs 4.5 lakh.The latter was allowed in the case of Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences in Palghar for its MD/MS programme. Vedantaa originally demanded an annual fee of Rs 22 lakh for the programme in its fee revision proposal submitted to FRA. The authority allowed it an annual fee of Rs 13.11 lakh for 2025-26 instead. The college sought a review and based on an an empowered group’s recommendation, the fee was fixed at Rs 17.62 lakh for PG courses. “There was a govt order issued when the institute was established under Companies Act, which we had to follow in its case. It also claimed its admissions were delayed in a particular year, due to which expenses were carried forward to the following year’s accounts. Based on this, the revised fee was allowed, although it is still lower than the fee for the previous academic session, which was around Rs 18 lakh,” said an FRA official. In the case of another institute—Smt Kashibai Navale Medical College—it claimed in its review petition that the number of staff members considered while fixing the fees was lower than the actual strength, according to the FRA official. After the documents were reviewed, it was also allowed around Rs 1.4 lakh hike from the fees fixed originally. Its fee for the MBBS programme was earlier Rs 10.94 lakh per annum, which was revised to Rs 12.34 lakh. For its MD/MS, the fee was revised from Rs 12.95 lakh to Rs 14.23 lakh, mentioned the minutes of the meeting. In its original proposals, however, the college had demanded Rs 22 lakh for MBBS and over Rs 25 lakh for its PG programme. Six other colleges, too, got their fees reviewed after producing documents. Dr NY Tasgaonkar Institute of Medical Science, Karjat, demanded Rs 20 lakh fee, but was allowed only Rs 6.21 lakh; it was revised to Rs 7.65 lakh. Parbhani Medical College, ACPM Dhule, NKP Salve Medical College Nagpur, SMBT Institute of Medical Sciences, Igatpuri, got their fees revised by up to Rs 1 lakh. Parent representative Sudha Shenoy called the whole admission process flawed. “The state govt should ensure that the fees are mentioned next to the college’s name on the CET cell’s portal when students fill their choices. And FRA should fix the final fees much before admissions start as many colleges seek extra money in the name of review,” she said.
