SC orders fee disclosure by varsities before NEET PG counselling begins

Supreme Court of India has taken a strong stand against the widespread practice of seat blocking in postgraduate medical admissions through NEET-PG, aiming to make the process fairer for all candidates. In a landmark order dated April 29, the court mandated that all private and deemed universities must disclose their fees before counselling begins.

This includes tuition, hostel, caution deposit, and other miscellaneous charges.

A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan highlighted that seat blocking distorts the real



availability of seats and creates unfairness among aspirants.

The court described seat blocking not as a simple error but a symptom of deeper problems such as fragmented governance, lack of transparency, and weak enforcement of policies.

Although regulators have tried to curb the issue with disincentives and technical controls, the court noted that key challenges remain unaddressed.

These include the lack of real-time seat availability updates, poor coordination among authorities, and uneven application of rules.