Opinion: Before You Pay an MBBS Seat, Check It Is Real. NMC's Fake-College Advisory, Explained

A building, a website, a glossy brochure and even a letter that looks like it came from a regulator: none of these proves a medical college is allowed to teach MBBS. That is the core of an advisory the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued on 5 November 2026, and it is worth every Jammu family with a NEET aspirant reading it in full before anyone pays a rupee.

This is an explainer first and an opinion second. Here is what the advisory says, why it was issued now, how to check a college yourself, and what we think young applicants in J&K should take from it.

Why the warning came now

The advisory, numbered U-15024/10/2026-UGMEB and issued by NMC's Under-Graduate Medical Education Board, says the Supreme Court, in an ongoing case titled Ayesha Jain v. Amity University, Noida & Ors., directed all regulators, including NMC, to caution students and parents against taking admission in or dealing with institutions without first verifying them. The court's direction came, the advisory says, "in the context of a reported instance of a purported fake medical college operating from a farmhouse and claiming to offer various courses." NMC says it has noticed institutions "purportedly offering medical and allied courses without obtaining the requisite statutory recognition, approval or permission", using advertisements, websites, social media and agents.

The eight checks, in plain language

1. Is the college on NMC's list? Before taking an MBBS seat, check that the college is in NMC's official list of medical colleges and has permission for the relevant academic year.
2. Is it allowed to admit this year, and this many? Being on a list, or having run in earlier years, "shall not, by itself, be treated as confirmation" of permission for every later year or for seats beyond the approved intake. Check the course and seat number for the current year in official NMC and Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) records.
3. Are the papers real? Do not rely on brochures, prospectuses, websites, advertisements, social media posts or "purported Letters of Permission" handed out by a college or its representatives. If in doubt, verify directly with the regulator through its official channels.
4. Did the seat come through counselling? Where counselling applies, follow it and verify the institution and seat through the official counselling authority: the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) or the competent State/UT authority.
5. Do the claims add up? Be cautious of "extraordinary claims" about clinical training, hospital facilities or admission chances. A building, office, website or advertisement "does not, by itself, establish" that an institution is legally authorised.
6. Where is the money going? Do not pay agents, personal bank accounts or unverified intermediaries. No agent's word substitutes for the statutory permission.
7. Which regulator approved what? Approval or affiliation from one authority for one purpose is not NMC permission to run MBBS.
8. Report it. Suspected fake colleges, forged permission letters or fraudulent offers can be reported to NMC through its official website, and to the State/UT medical education department, the relevant regulator and the local police. Keep the advertisements, receipts, messages and website details.

The advisory adds one boundary worth knowing: pharmacy, nursing, Ayurveda and allied health courses fall under other regulators, so their status must be checked with those bodies, not NMC. It points families to nmc.org.in and the official counselling portals for "authentic and updated information".

What it means in J&K

For most Jammu students the safe route already exists: NEET-UG, then counselling. MCC handles all-India counselling, and the UT's counselling authority, JKBOPEE, handles J&K's own seats. We covered this year's J&K rounds, including JKBOPEE's choice filling for MBBS and BDS and what the merit list said about the seats ahead. Greater Kashmir, reporting the advisory, also noted NMC's position that no college can guarantee admission outside NEET.

The risk sits outside that route: the family that missed the cut-off by a few marks, the "management quota" offer from a caller, the seat "confirmed" by someone who wants an advance by UPI to a personal account. Those are exactly the situations the advisory's checks are written for.

Our view

NMC has done the right thing in putting this in writing, and the checks are sensible. But an advisory only works if it reaches the people it is meant for, at the moment they are deciding. Three things would help in J&K:

• Repeat it every counselling season. A November advisory reaches few families; the decisions are made in the summer, between NEET results and the last rounds. Counselling authorities could put the same eight checks on the first page of every round's notice.
• Make the list easy to find. "Check the official list" is good advice only if a parent can find the current year's permitted colleges and seats on a phone in a minute.
• Treat the agent, not the student, as the problem. The advisory's own wording puts the burden of due diligence on students and parents. Families who are cheated should be able to report it without embarrassment, and the advisory rightly says to go to the police as well as the regulator.

What to do if you are applying

• Get your seat through MCC or JKBOPEE counselling, and check the allotted college and seat on the official portal.
• Before paying, look the college up on nmc.org.in for this academic year and this intake.
• Pay only to the institution's official account, against a receipt, never to an agent or a personal account.
• If an offer looks wrong, keep the evidence and report it.

A medical degree takes years of a young person's life and, often, a family's savings. Ten minutes of checking is a small price.

Sources: National Medical Commission, advisory No. U-15024/10/2026-UGMEB, 5 November 2026; Greater Kashmir/PTI, 10 November 2026; Greater Kashmir, 11 November 2026. Photo: National Medical Commission office, file photo, Medical Dialogues.