The Supreme Court on Thursday directed for setting up a web portal under its own aegis to let students or anyone else to furnish information about capitation fees charged by private medical colleges in the country.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said in spite of the state governments enacting legislations prohibiting the practice of charging capitation fee and making it an offence, the stark reality which cannot be ignored is that capitation fee being charged for admission to medical colleges is prevalent even today.
The court also "strictly prohibited" the management of private medical colleges from accepting payment of fees in cash, in order to avoid charging of capitation fee.
It also noted states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have already brought out a legislation to curb the menace of charging capitation fee.
Besides ordering a web portal to be maintained by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the top court directed the Chief Secretaries of the states and union territories to publish the details about it in the English as well as vernacular newspapers at the time of admission.
"In addition, a pamphlet should be compulsorily given to the students and their parents at the time of counselling informing them about the availability of the web-portal," it said.
The students or any other aggrieved persons are at liberty to report on the web portal regarding collection of fees in cash by any medical colleges, it added.
Issuing a slew of directions in a pending 2017 civil appeal filed by Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust Etc, the court said, while fixing the schedule for the admission process, the National Medical Commission and the Dental Council of India have to make sure that the counselling for all the rounds, including the stray vacancy round, is completed at least two weeks before the last date of admission.
With regard to fee, the court said the Fee Fixation Committees of the states should take into account all the components, leaving no scope for managements to charge any additional amounts apart from what has been prescribed from time to time.
In the event that the management intends to charge additional amounts over and above the price band fixed by the Fee Fixation Committee, it can only be done with the concurrence of the Fee Fixation Committee, the court said.
The top court also asked the Director General of Health Services and other concerned authorities, including the State Governments to ensure that the All-India Quota and State Quota rounds of counselling are completed strictly in accordance with the fixed time.
The court put the matter for consideration in July, 2022.