In a bid to curb exorbitant fees charged by medical schools, the Institute of Medicine (IoM) has asked students to deposit the fees directly into bank account of the concerned colleges and provide it the voucher or receipt. The IoM would then write to the respective medical colleges to enroll the students. Any additional fees that the colleges might charge should be disclosed beforehand to the regulatory body. 

The IoM’s latest move comes three weeks prior to the start of admission process for the MBBS students. The admission for this year has been delayed following the question paper leak in the entrance test which forced the IoM to conduct a re-examination.

“All the eligible students will be asked to deposit the money into the bank account of medical colleges. The voucher or receipt has to be uploaded online into IoM’s account,” said IoM Dean Dr JP Agrawal. “Only after this we will write to the respective medical colleges to enroll the students.”

Students should notify the IoM if any college demands additional amount from them, Dr Agrawal added.

At the time of admission, students have to deposit the first instalment of the total fee—Rs3.8 million for the medical colleges inside Kathmandu Valley and Rs 4.2 million for the colleges outside the Valley. 

For this academic session, a total of 715 seats have been allocated for the medical colleges under the IoM, including 75 seats for Maharajung Campus. Seven medical colleges are affiliated to the IoM.

The IoM has written to the TU Executive Council to approve the total medical seats before they begin the counseling sessions for the students. 

The IoM has been struggling to regulate its fee structures ahead of each academic session for years. Some of its affiliated private medical colleges are found to have charged as high as Rs6 million to Rs7 million from students, completely ignoring the fees set by the TU. 

The admission process for this year has been delayed by a month after multiple investigations confirmed that question papers of the MBBS entrance exam held on October 14 were leaked. Over 15 examinees were arrested from the examination hall for using medical devices to cheat in the test.  

The IoM conducted the re-examination on December 2. Only students who pass the entrance test are eligible to apply for private medical colleges affiliated to the IoM.