NEET PG Counselling 2026: No first-year fee payment for seat upgradation candidates, NBEMS revises rules

In a significant upgrade, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has revised the MCC NEET PG counselling 2026 first-year course fee payment rule for 50% AIQ quota seats. The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), which conducts counselling, has started its MCC NEET PG counselling 2026 round 1 college reporting process today, October 23. 

As per the revised rules, if candidates get a seat in the MCC counselling process and choose the ‘freeze’ option, they do not have to pay the first-year course fee while waiting for an upgrade. Candidates who choose to keep their seat must pay the first-year fee directly to the accredited hospital that admitted them. NBEMS will not collect this fee during counselling.

MCC has announced the NEET PG counselling 2026 round 1 seat allotment results and the rule change if applicable for every candidate who have been allotted a postgraduate medical seat. MCC has allotted over 28,00 PG seats in round 1 counselling. 

Also read NEET PG Counselling: At private medical colleges, deemed-university tag brings up to 1,471% fee hike 

NEET PG 2026: Revised fee payment rule for seat upgradation

Candidates who are allotted seats must report to their allotted medical colleges between October 26 to November 2. The changes in the fee payment rule for candidates are as follows. 

• Float/Upgradation Option: Candidates who choose the ‘float’ (upgrade) option to participate in subsequent rounds of counseling are not required to pay the first-year course fee while they are waiting for an upgrade.

• Freeze Option: Candidates who decide to accept and join their allotted seat by choosing the ‘freeze’ option must pay the first-year annual course fee directly to that specific NBEMS-accredited institute/hospital.

• NBEMS Institute: Accredited hospitals are instructed not to collect the first-year course fee from candidates who have selected the ‘float/upgrade’ option. Fees will be collected only when a candidate permanently joins by freezing the seat. 

As per the NBEMS notice, candidates willing to join the allotted seat and do not opt for upgradation are required to join their NBEMS training within the reporting deadline date published by MCC. For candidates who are upgraded in subsequent rounds of the counseling, the training period will be considered from the date of joining the upgraded seat. 

NBEMS OPJR facility 

NBEMS has also announced that its Online Portal for Joining and Registration (OPJR) will stay closed until MCC finishes all rounds of NEET PG 2026 counselling. After that, the portal will open so that candidates and hospitals can submit joining details and the required documents to NBEMS. The process will be explained in a separate notice.