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Aftab Maken
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) has approved enhanced, institution-specific tuition fee caps for 16 private medical and dental colleges across the country, ranging from Rs. 1.8 million to Rs. 2,160,000 per year, according to a notification issued on August 4, 2026.
The notification — No. PF.1-A(B&A)(Tuition Fee)-2026/100 — states that the Council, acting under Section 20(7) and (8) of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council Act, 2022, and in pursuance of recommendations by the Committee on Medical Education constituted by the Prime Minister, examined enhancement requests filed by private institutions along with their audited financial statements before unanimously approving the new caps.
Which colleges got how much
Among the institutions granted the highest permissible caps of Rs. 2,160,000 are NUST School of Health Sciences (Islamabad), Bahria University College of Medicine (Islamabad), and Shalamar Medical & Dental College (Lahore). Several Lahore-based institutions — including Rashid Latif Medical and Dental College and RLKU Medical College — were capped at Rs. 2,121,765, while Rahbar Medical & Dental College, Lahore was set at Rs. 2,107,421 and Peshawar Medical and Dental College at Rs. 2,116,552.
At the lower end, Al Aleem Medical College, Lahore received the smallest enhancement among the 16, with its fee capped at Rs. 1,800,000, while Pak International Medical College, Peshawar and Aziz Fatima Medical College, Faisalabad were capped at Rs. 1,928,812 and Rs. 1,945,341 respectively. Other institutions on the list include Abu Umara Medical & Dental College and Amna Inayat Medical College (both Lahore), Muhammad Medical College (Mirpurkhas), Faryal Dental College (Sheikhupura), Lahore Medical & Dental College, and Indus Medical College (Tando Muhammad Khan).
Part of a longer fee-regulation battle
The notification is the latest chapter in a fee-regulation process that has stretched over nearly two years and repeatedly put PMDC at odds with private medical college owners. The push began with a base tuition cap of Rs. 1.8 million (inclusive of ancillary charges) for MBBS and BDS programmes for the 2024-25 session, set by the Committee on Medical Education Reforms headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on the Prime Minister’s directive, with a built-in 5 percent annual increase — taking the cap to roughly Rs. 1.89 million for 2025-26 — and subsequent adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index from the 2026-27 session onward.
Crucially, that framework also allowed institutions that could demonstrate a genuine financial need, backed by audited accounts, to apply for a higher fee — up to a ceiling of Rs. 2.5 million — through a dedicated Fee Justification Committee. The 16 caps notified this week are the outcome of that enhancement-review process, and all fall within the Rs. 2.5 million ceiling.
The road to this point has been contentious. Earlier this year, several private colleges were found charging students far above the approved Rs. 1.89 million limit — in some cases demanding Rs. 2.5 million to over Rs. 3.5 million upfront — prompting parental complaints from Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar and, subsequently, show-cause notices against a dozen institutions accused of overcharging. The Pakistan Association of Medical Institutes (PAMI), which represents private colleges, had at one point secured a stay order against the fee cap from the Islamabad High Court, before agreeing to withdraw its petition in February after PMDC reaffirmed the cap alongside the conditional-enhancement mechanism now reflected in this notification.
Enforcement and next steps
The fresh notification directs that all other terms of the earlier March 11, 2026 notification (No. PF.1-A(B&A)(Tuition Fee)-2026/60) continue to apply and form an integral part of the current one, with binding effect on all institutions “in letter and spirit.” It has been circulated to all recognised medical and dental institutions and their admitting universities for strict compliance, and to PMDC’s Finance and IT departments — the latter tasked with publishing the updated fee schedule on the Council’s website.
PMDC has reiterated that any institution found charging beyond its approved cap can face penal action under the PM&DC Act, 2022, including fines and suspension of registration in past enforcement rounds, and has directed students or parents who believe they have been overcharged to lodge complaints through its official portal at pmdc.pk/ContactUs/Complaint.
