• Council claims consensus over revision of tuition costs at private medical institutions

• PAMI denies any such agreement, says matter to be taken up today with panel led by Deputy PM Dar

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and Pakistan Association of Private Medical and Dental Institutions (PAMI) appear to be at loggerheads over the issue of fee revision.

While the PMDC on Saturday claimed to have reached a consensus on revising the tuition fees of the private colleges concerned, PAMI has denied any such development. The representative body of private colleges asserted that the matter will be discussed with a committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.

The PMDC, in a statement, claimed that to regulate the fee structure and address public concerns over rising medical education costs, it held a second meeting of the subcommittee which was attended by the representatives of private medical and dental colleges, education and law experts and chartered accountants.

“This standardisation effort is a crucial step toward eliminating arbitrary fee increases and ensuring transparency across private institutions. Therefore, the discussion focused on striking a balance between affordability for students and financial sustainability for institutions.

“During the meeting, various proposals were presented and reviewed critically. However, initial recommendations from private institutions did not align with public expectations. After extensive deliberations, the PMDC and stakeholders reached a consensus on revising tuition fees to ensure they remain within reasonable limits while allowing institutions to maintain high-quality education,” the statement said.

PMDC instructed PAMI officials to display fees on their websites and admission brochures.

The meeting also discussed the establishment of an oversight committee once the fee structure is standardised to ensure that colleges adhered to uniform fees. The committee proposed that colleges must introduce scholarships and instalment-based payment plans to support students from low-income backgrounds.

PMDC President Dr Rizwan Taj said that the outcome of the initiative would establish a maximum tuition fee cap for private institutions, providing financial relief to students and parents while upholding academic excellence.

All the final proposals will be presented to the Medical Education Committee, chaired by Deputy PM Mohammad Ishaq Dar, he said.

PAMI’s stance

But the president of PAMI’s Sindh Chapter, Prof Dr Razi Mohammad, denied any such development.

Talking to Dawn, he said Dr Ghazanfar and Dr Riaz Janjua had represented PAMI at the meeting.

“They informed the committee that it is not viable to continue with the fee suggested by the PMDC. They said the fee should be compared with the neighbouring countries as all the neighbouring countries are charging much more than private colleges of Pakistan,” Dr Razi said.

“PMDC initially proposed a fee range of Rs1.2-1.5 million per year. After deliberation with the PAMI delegation, the PMDC proposed a fee range of Rs1.8-2.5m, with a 5 per cent annual increase. However, PAMI strongly opposed the PMDC’s initial and final proposals,” he said.

Dr Razi said that two PAMI representatives will meet the deputy PM, law minister, HEC, CPSP and other stakeholders on Monday (today) to discuss the issue.

“The PMDC intends to unilaterally set uniform tuition fees for private medical and dental institutions. However, Competition Act, 2010, Section 4(1) prohibits agreements that prevent, restrict, or reduce competition within the relevant market and its Section 4(2)(a) specifically identifies ‘fixing the purchase or selling price or imposing any other restrictive trading conditions’ as a prohibited practice,” he said.

“By standardising fees, the PMDC may engage in anti-competitive behaviour,” he pointed out.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2025