News & Updates
New NMC Rules for MBBS 2026: Every Change Explained
21 Sept 2026
11 min read
Every National Medical Commission notice in 2026 that changes something for an MBBS student or a foreign medical graduate, with the date and what to do about it.
The new NMC rules for MBBS 2026 are not one regulation but a run of public notices issued through the year. The two that change money and eligibility are the fee direction of 7 April 2026, capping MBBS fees at four and a half years, and the Eligibility Certificate notice of 28 August 2026, which moved applications online and tied them to the FMGE screening test.
Below is every 2026 notice that changes something for an MBBS student or a foreign medical graduate, in date order, with what to do about each.
Key Takeaways
MBBS fees may now be charged only for the prescribed four and a half years, not five, following NMC public notice CDN-13011/1/2026 dated 7 April 2026.
Three states have implemented that direction, and Telangana has ordered colleges to refund fifth-year tuition already collected.
The Eligibility Certificate application moved to an online portal, with a window that ran from 1 September to 30 September 2026.
The NMC issued an alert note on 1 April 2026 naming three Uzbekistan universities and an offshore campus arrangement in Bangalore.
NExT did not change. It has been deferred since 11 July 2023 and no start date has been notified, so FMGE remains the exam in force.
Which new NMC rules for MBBS 2026 changed the fees?
On 7 April 2026 the National Medical Commission issued public notice CDN-13011/1/2026, directing that the fee for the MBBS course be charged only for the prescribed academic duration of four and a half years. The Commission grounded it in the NMC Act 2019, the competency based curriculum guidelines, interim Supreme Court directions on internship charges, and the line of authority holding that fees must be reasonable, transparent and non-exploitative. Non-compliance, it said, shall be viewed seriously.
The course is fifty-four months of academic study plus twelve months of compulsory rotating internship. Colleges had widely billed five annual instalments. The direction removes the fifth.
Three states then put it into effect.
State | Instrument and date | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
Tamil Nadu | Selection Committee notification, 23 June 2026, communicating the NMC direction of 8 April 2026 | Self-financing colleges and state private universities may not collect any fee other than that fixed by the committee |
Kerala | G.O.(Rt) No. 2326/2026/H&FWD, 17 July 2026 | Fee charged for fifty-four months only, citing a Kerala High Court interim order of 19 June 2026 |
Telangana | TAFRC letter, 14 August 2026 | Tuition across nine semesters, four full instalments plus a half, and any fifth-year fee already collected to be refunded immediately |
The Telangana letter is the one to keep. On a fee of Rs. 14,50,000 a year it takes the course total from Rs. 72.50 lakh to Rs. 65.25 lakh, and it records colleges withholding hall tickets, blocking biometric attendance and barring entry to force a fifth payment. If a family has paid a fifth year, the refund is not a favour.
What changed for foreign medical graduates?
Three notices, all of them consequential.
Eligibility Certificate moved online, 28 August 2026
The Ethics and Medical Registration Board issued a public notice on 28 August 2026 opening online applications for the Eligibility Certificate on the NMC registration portal. The window ran from 1 September 2026 at 10:00 to 30 September 2026 at 18:00.
The notice is blunt about why it matters: candidates who are required to hold an Eligibility Certificate are not permitted to apply for the screening test without one. Candidates who applied in a previous round need not apply again. The notice also advises that the form be filled by the candidate rather than by a proxy, and that an active mobile number be given so that deficiency alerts arrive.
Online study compensation clarified, 18 March 2026
The NMC issued a public notice on physical onsite compensation for online studies undertaken by foreign medical students, clarifying its earlier notices of 7 December 2023 and 19 June 2024. This notice expressly supersedes and withdraws the notice of 6 March 2026, so a student who acted on the March version should read the later one.
Internship slot allocation, 11 March 2026
The Commission issued a notice on the allocation of compulsory rotating medical internship slots for foreign medical graduates. This is the twelve month supervised internship in India that a foreign graduate must complete after clearing the screening test, before permanent registration.
Why did the NMC issue an alert on Uzbekistan?
The NMC issued an alert note for Indian students seeking admission to undergraduate medical courses in Uzbekistan, following a communication from the Embassy of India in Tashkent that raised concerns about the quality and standards of medical education there and alleged malpractice by agents.
It named Bukhara State Medical Institute, Samarkand State Medical University and Tashkent State Medical University, and separately flagged TIT Institute of Medical Sciences in Bangalore, described as an offshore campus of the Tashkent State Medical University Termez branch situated in India. The concerns recorded were students admitted beyond intake capacity, and students not receiving hands-on training because the medium of instruction was not English.
The note then lists five points, deviation from any of which may result in disqualification from registration in India.
Duration of the course, which must run for at least fifty-four months.
Medium of instruction, which must be English throughout.
Syllabus and curriculum, which must commensurate with the Indian MBBS course.
Clinical training, which must be genuine hands-on training and not observation.
Internship or clerkship arrangements, which must be completed at the same foreign institution.
Its instructions to families are worth repeating in full: do not fall for fraudulent offers, since no institution can guarantee admission outside the prescribed process; verify before making any payment; check recognition and compliance against the licentiate regulations; avoid unverified agents; seek official guidance from the NMC and Indian missions abroad; and report suspicious activity.
What else did the NMC notify in 2026?
Three further 2026 notices, lighter in effect but worth knowing.
On 10 September 2026 the NMC published the seat matrix for undergraduate MBBS courses for the academic year 2026-27, as on 1 September 2026. This is the document counselling authorities work from.
On 16 September 2026 the NMC issued guidelines on the assessment of persons with benchmark disabilities for admission to postgraduate medical courses for 2026. Undergraduate disability rules were revised separately and earlier.
On 3 September 2026 the NMC made updation of National Medical Register and State Medical Register numbers of medical faculty mandatory on the biometric attendance portal, which is a faculty compliance measure rather than a student one, though it feeds the seat approvals that follow.
What did not change in 2026?
Two things families keep asking about, and both stayed where they were.
NExT has not started. The NMC notified the National Exit Test Regulations in June 2023, then deferred the examination by public notice on 13 July 2023 on the advice of the Ministry dated 11 July 2023, until further directions. Nothing in 2026 supersedes that. The NBEMS has scheduled FMGE for 31 October 2026, and the NMC Eligibility Certificate notice of 28 August 2026 refers to the FMGE screening test, so FMGE is the exam to prepare for.
The licentiate conditions also stand unchanged. The Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021 still require a fifty-four month course, a twelve month internship at the same foreign institution, English as the medium of instruction, registration in the country of the degree, a further twelve month supervised internship in India, and a pass in the mandated exam.
One piece of background that has not changed either, and that sits behind all of this: the National Medical Commission itself holds recognition status with the World Federation for Medical Education until 30 September 2033. WFME recognises accrediting agencies rather than individual medical schools, and that status is what international bodies look at when an Indian graduate applies to train abroad.
What should you do now?
If a family is affected by one of these, the action is usually specific and time-bound.
Paying a private MBBS fee: check whether a fifth year has been billed, and if it has, write to the college citing the NMC direction of 7 April 2026 and your state's implementing order.
Planning to study abroad: get the course duration, medium of instruction, curriculum, clinical training and internship arrangements in writing from the institution before paying anything, because those are the five points the NMC named.
Already studying abroad and approaching the screening test: confirm the Eligibility Certificate is in hand, since the NMC will not allow a screening test application without one.
Returning after a foreign degree: watch for the internship slot allocation notices, because the twelve month supervised internship in India sits between the exam and registration.
What to read next
NExT or FMGE in 2026 explains which exam a graduate actually sits.
Is MBBS abroad worth it sets the FMGE pass data against these rules.
MBBS with a disability covers the 2026 disability assessment changes.
MBBS seats in India 2026 works through the seat matrix.
FMG internship stipend in India covers the internship rules in detail.
Sources
National Medical Commission, public notice CDN-13011/1/2026 dated 7 April 2026 on the duration for which MBBS fees may be charged
National Medical Commission, alert note for Indian students seeking admission in Uzbekistan, 1 April 2026
National Medical Commission, public notice on physical onsite compensation for online studies, 18 March 2026
National Medical Commission, allocation of compulsory rotating medical internship slots for foreign medical graduates, 11 March 2026
National Medical Commission, Ethics and Medical Registration Board, public notice on online application for the Eligibility Certificate, 28 August 2026
National Medical Commission, seat matrix for undergraduate MBBS courses 2026-27, 10 September 2026
National Medical Commission, guidelines on assessment of persons with benchmark disabilities for postgraduate admission, 16 September 2026
National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021
National Medical Commission, public notice deferring the National Exit Test, 13 July 2023
Government of Kerala, G.O.(Rt) No. 2326/2026/H&FWD, 17 July 2026; Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee letter, 14 August 2026; Selection Committee Tamil Nadu notification, 23 June 2026
World Federation for Medical Education, list of accrediting agencies with recognition status
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