The MBBS Service Bond: What You Sign and What It Costs

The bond you sign before you get your degree

A government seat comes with a service bond

A bond is a signed promise to serve the state for a set number of years after you qualify, and to pay a fixed penalty if you do not. The terms are set state by state.

Tamil Nadu asks five years or Rs. 5 lakh

The Tamil Nadu prospectus for MBBS admission in 2025 sets five years of service in rural areas, with a penalty of Rs. 5 lakh for breaking the bond.

Uttarakhand Rs. 1 crore, Assam Rs. 30 lakh

The Uttarakhand MBBS bond is five years in the hill districts against Rs. 1 crore. The Assam deed of 2019 is five years, one of them rural, against Rs. 30 lakh.

Karnataka asks one year under its own Act

Karnataka runs its bond through a state law of 2015. An MBBS graduate owes one year of compulsory rural service, and the fine for default is Rs. 15 lakh to Rs. 30 lakh.

The Supreme Court did not set a cap

The 2019 judgment often quoted here was about postgraduate and super speciality bonds. It asked states to consider two years and Rs. 20 lakh. It did not fix a ceiling.

Your degree can sit in the college safe

The Uttarakhand bond keeps the MBBS degree with the principal until the bond is discharged. The PG bond is separate and additional, and in Uttarakhand it is Rs. 2.5 crore.

Want to compare India and abroad

Our comparison of MBBS in India and abroad sets out how many seats exist, what each route costs a family over six years, and how admission works on both sides.