Rs 1.8 million a year, and a refund if you were charged more: the PMDC fee cap every private medical college in Pakistan now has to obey

Watim Medical and Dental College in Rawalpindi is one of dozens of private colleges in Pakistan that admit MBBS students on merit lists published under the regulator's rules, and whose fees are now set by that regulator rather than by the college. For a family comparing colleges, that single fact changes what a fee quote is allowed to be.

According to Dawn and The Express Tribune, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) fixed the annual tuition fee for MBBS and BDS at private colleges at Rs 1.8 million for the 2024–25 session, and at Rs 1.89 million for 2025–26, a permitted rise of five per cent. From the 2026–27 session, the council said, increases will be tied to the consumer price index. A college may apply to charge more, up to a ceiling of Rs 2.5 million, but only on the strength of audited accounts submitted to the council. The News reported the council's warning that colleges charging above the cap face suspension of accreditation and legal action, and that any college which has already collected more than the fixed fee must refund the difference or adjust it against later sessions.

The council's own press release adds the part students most often do not know: overcharging is a complaint the regulator will act on, and the complaint is filed directly on the PMDC portal, not with the college.

Why this case is here. Private medical fees in Pakistan had climbed for years with little check, and "package" quotes from colleges and agents routinely bundled hostel, "development", "security" and "miscellaneous" charges on top of tuition. A cap on tuition does not by itself cap the extras, and it does not stop a college from presenting a higher "total" that a family assumes is compulsory. The refund rule, however, means a receipt for more than the fixed tuition is now evidence rather than a lost cause.

For a student looking at Watim or any private college in the country: compare the tuition line on the college's fee notice with the PMDC figure for your session; ask, in writing, what each additional charge is for and whether it is refundable; keep every receipt; and if the tuition demanded is above the cap, file on the PMDC complaint portal before paying, not after. Nobody can negotiate a regulated fee on your behalf for a commission.