ISLAMABAD (Nadeem Choudhry) In a significant development concerning the regulation of medical education in Pakistan, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has restrained the Registrar of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) from taking any coercive action against fourteen private medical colleges that had been issued show-cause notices over alleged excessive fee charging.
The Registrar PMDC had recently issued notices to these colleges, asserting that they had charged annual tuition fees exceeding Rs. 2.5 million with one institution reportedly demanding as much as Rs. 4 million per student. The Registrar PMDC in his show cause notices contended that PMDC possesses the legal authority to fix the upper ceiling for tuition fees charged by private medical and dental colleges.
However, the Association of the Private medical institutions challenged the Registrar PMDC’s claim before the Islamabad High Court, arguing that under the PMDC Act, 2022, the authority to determine and fix tuition fees rests with the respective colleges themselves, not the PMDC.
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The Court, while halting any immediate punitive measures by PMDC, has taken up the matter to interpret the scope of the Council’s authority of fixing fee limits under the 2022 Act. Legal experts suggest that the Court’s ruling could have far-reaching implications for the autonomy of private medical institutions and the regulatory over reach of PMDC.
While the private colleges insist on their statutory right to set fees independently, this discretion must be exercised judiciously, reasonably, and in good faith by ensuring that educational institutions do not succumb to profiteering at the expense of merit and accessibility.
The case has reignited a long-standing debate over the balance between institutional autonomy and regulatory over reach in Pakistan’s medical education sector. The IHC is expected to continue hearing the matter in the coming weeks.
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