Karnataka panel warns medical colleges against charging excess UG, PG admission fees via KEA

The Karnataka Admission Overseeing Committee has cautioned medical colleges against charging students any unauthorised fees during UG and PG medical admissions. The warning comes after the committee received complaints that some colleges were collecting extra money from students even though the prescribed university fee had already been paid through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) during the seat allotment process.

The committee said the university fee collected through KEA is directly transferred to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). Despite this, a few colleges were reportedly demanding the same fee again from students at the time of admission.

The committee also noted complaints about colleges asking students to pay caution deposits and other charges that are not permitted under the agreement signed between the Karnataka government and private medical colleges. As per the approved fee structure, institutions are allowed to collect only the prescribed skill lab fee of Rs 30,000 and miscellaneous charges of Rs 15,000.

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Chairman of the admission overseeing committee, urged students and parents facing such issues to file complaints with the panel. The committee said candidates who were forced to pay excess amounts could approach its office at the KEA building in Bengaluru’s Malleswaram area for redressal.

The matter has raised concerns among students and parents amid the ongoing medical admission process in the state. KEA also shared the advisory on social media, reminding colleges to strictly follow the approved fee structure and warning that complaints from affected students would be taken up by the committee.

The committee’s intervention is likely to bring closer scrutiny of fee collection practices in private medical colleges across Karnataka during the current admission season.