The National Medical Commission (NMC) has cleared confusion for medical colleges on MBBS seat recognition. They say colleges do not need to send separate proposals or pay extra fees for recognition. Instead, the annual renewal of seats itself counts as recognition under the current rules. A health ministry official explained, "The Commission has issued the clarification after the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) started receiving applications from some medical colleges for recognition, along with fees. Now we have made it clear that there is no need for separate applications for recognition of MBBS seats and fee structure." According to the 2023 Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, medical colleges must only submit the Annual Disclosure Report (ADR) with required fees on the NMC portal when asked. Once seats are approved or renewed annually, that batch will be treated as recognized for that academic year. The NMC order states, "once permitted or renewed annually, the MBBS batch will be considered recognized and seats permitted will be considered as recognized seats for registration of the degree awarded." Medical colleges running such courses will also be deemed Accredited Medical colleges for that qualification. This move should simplify the process for colleges and speed up seat approvals. The advisory was published on January 10, 2026, at 04:27 pm IST.