The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has reached a landmark agreement with the Pakistan Association of Private Medical and Dental Institutions (PAMI) to regulate and cap tuition fees of private medical and dental colleges, aiming to curb excessive charges and protect students’ interests.
Under the agreement, the annual tuition fee for MBBS and BDS programmes has been fixed at Rs1.8 million. The cap allows a maximum annual increase of up to five per cent for the academic session 2025–26, with future revisions to be linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), as notified by PMDC. No private medical or dental institution will be permitted to charge tuition fees beyond the approved ceiling without prior authorisation.
The agreement, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was finalised after detailed deliberations by a high-level committee chaired by the deputy prime minister. The committee reviewed PMDC’s consultative fee rationalisation process, including audited financial accounts, cost-per-student data, stakeholder input and legal vetting, before reaffirming the fee cap.
According to the agreement, the Rs1.8 million cap applies strictly to tuition fees and excludes ancillary charges such as examination fees, university fees, hostel charges, transportation costs and regulatory fees payable to universities or PMDC. The maximum profit margin allowed for private institutions has been capped at 20 per cent of total revenue. Any institution found charging fees beyond the approved limit without permission will face regulatory action.
The agreement also provides a mechanism for conditional fee enhancement. Institutions may apply to PMDC for an increase beyond Rs1.8 million, up to a maximum of Rs2.5 million, strictly on the basis of audited financial accounts. For this process, no bank statements or tax returns will be required. The fee approved for the 2025–26 session on the basis of audited accounts will also apply retrospectively to the 2024–25 session. Any disputes arising from this process will be resolved by the fee committee, which includes three representatives from PAMI, and its decision will be considered final.
In a significant development, PAMI has agreed to withdraw its petition pending before the Islamabad High Court in light of the reaffirmed fee cap and the regulatory framework for conditional enhancement. PMDC, in turn, has committed to strict enforcement of the capped fee structure across all private medical and dental institutions in accordance with the law.
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Both PMDC and PAMI reiterated their commitment to safeguarding students and the public interest by ensuring transparency, accountability and quality in medical and dental education through effective fee regulation.
