Maharashtra plans to hike entrance exam fee by 10% every year to facilitate APAAR, Aadhaar integration

The Maharashtra Admission Regulating Authority (ARA) has hiked the exam fee for the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET), including other entrance exams. The state plans to hike the exam fee by 10% every year to facilitate the APAAR and Aadhaar integration with the admission process.

The authority has also planned to recommend state government to increase the seat acceptance fee for engineering aspirants , holding onto the seats allotted to them in previous admission rounds.

According to the minutes of a Maharashtra ARA meeting, candidates are currently charged an acceptance fee of Rs 1,000 in each round, irrespective of them holding onto the previous rounds' seats. Candidates now may have to shell out Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 for laying claim to the seats allotted in the last and penultimate rounds, respectively.

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The seat acceptance fees for higher education professional courses, including law and teacher training, have been doubled from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. The move aims to free up more seats for the other candidates.

CET registration through Aadhaar or APAAR

In addition to this, from the academic year 2026-27, it is under consideration to register candidates for CET through Aadhaar or APAAR integration to avoid duplication or other malpractices in the registration process. After considering the expenditure on the said matters, the fee increase has been approved as given in the table below.

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MHT CET: Mock CAP round from 2026-27

Furthermore, the authority has also proposed to hold a mock centralised admission process (CAP) round in the upcoming admission cycle, to familiarise candidates with the process. Candidates often experience confusion in filling out the college preference form while selecting either the freeze or betterment options during the CAP admission process. To address challenges faced by the candidates, the State CET Cell has planned to introduce a mock CAP admission practice round starting from the academic year 2026-27.

“As this is only a practice round, the seat and college allotted during the mock CAP are purely indicative and intended solely for familiarisation. The actual CAP allotment may differ based on factors such as merit, reservation policies, candidature type, and institution category,” the official notice reads.