PMDC to Recover Rs. 200 Million from Medical Universities

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has admitted to a major financial oversight worth more than Rs. 200 million, after failing to collect inspection fees from universities that launched postgraduate programmes over the last two years, Dawn reported.

 Oversight Discovered During Scrutiny

The issue came to light in August 2025 when a Karachi-based university applied for recognition of 20 postgraduate programmes. During the evaluation, Deputy Registrar Dr. Habibullah discovered that the institution had not submitted the Comprehensive Inspection Fee (CIF) of Rs. 800,000 per programme.

Further investigation revealed that no university had been charged the CIF during the past two years, despite receiving approvals for their courses.

Estimated Loss

Documents cited by Dawn confirm that while other charges—such as secretariat fees, application charges, and inspector fees—were collected, the CIF was repeatedly overlooked.

• The omission is estimated to have cost the regulator over Rs. 200 million.

Next Steps

A senior PMDC official, quoted by Dawn, said the matter will now be referred to the Postgraduate Medical Education Committee (PMEC) for review.

• The council plans to recover the outstanding fees in full and deposit the amount into PMDC accounts.

 Accountability Concerns

PMDC, which regulates medical and dental colleges under the PMDC Act, has faced criticism for the lapse. Several stakeholders have demanded accountability of officials who failed to enforce the CIF requirement during the tenure of multiple registrars.

 This development adds to the ongoing scrutiny of PMDC’s operations, highlighting the need for stricter financial oversight and greater transparency in higher medical education approvals.