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       ISLAMABAD: While the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has capped the annual fee for medical and dental colleges at Rs1.8 million, allowing a five per cent increase for the 2025 session, the Pakistan Association of Private Medical and Dental Institutions (PAMI), the representative body of private colleges, has expressed reservations over the decision.

       Declaring the PMDC’s recent fee notification as premature, the PAMI has proposed that fee amounts up to Rs2.6 million should be exempt from the requirement of providing justification, and the upper capping of tuition fees should not be less than Rs3.2m, warning that the private sector’s survival would be at risk under the current cap.

       “Medical and dental colleges declared their fees three months prior to admissions, in accordance with Section 20(7) of the PMDC Act 2022, and students have already paid the fees at institutions of their choice. Moreover, regulations cannot be applied retrospectively. There-fore, the fees that have already been charged cannot be refunded or adjusted,” PAMI Secretary General Dr Riaz Janjua said in a statement to Dawn.

       He said that during a meeting of the Medical Education Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, it was agreed that colleges charging between Rs1.8m and Rs2.5m would need to provide financial justification to the PMDC. The maximum fee cap was set at Rs2.5m, with annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This fee structure was to be reviewed and revised after three years.

       PAMI wants upper limit of tuition fees be capped at Rs3.2m

       “A fee committee, consisting of members from both PMDC and PAMI, was also to be constituted for evaluating the audit reports of colleges charging between Rs1.8m and Rs2.5m,” Dr Janjua added. “However, the minutes of that meeting have yet to be released, and the committee responsible for handling justifications from colleges has not been notified. Therefore, the PMDC’s fee notification is premature.”

       He reiterated PAMI’s stance that fees up to Rs2.6m should not require justification, and the upper cap should not fall below Rs3.2m.

       It is worth mentioning that the PMDC issued the official notification on April 28, based on recommendations from the Committee on Medical Edu-cation Reforms, constituted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and chaired by Ishaq Dar.

       Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2025