Lahore High Court orders private medical colleges to refund excess fees

The Lahore High Court has ordered private medical and dental colleges to refund fees collected above the prescribed limits, or adjust the excess in students' next installments, within 30 working days.

Justice Khalid Ishaq issued the order in a 28-page written judgment on petitions filed by private medical colleges against fee determinations and against the authority of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Aaj News reported. The court dismissed the petitions and upheld the PMDC's notifications on fees.

The judgment held that the PMDC has the legal power to regulate fees at private medical and dental colleges, to examine what those institutions charge, and to enforce the limits it has set. Colleges cannot collect more than the prescribed ceiling.

The court said the colleges had themselves been part of the process of raising fees, and could not now challenge the notifications issued on fees.

Medical education cannot be turned into a means of earning money, the judgment said. It held that private institutions carry social responsibilities and must follow the rules when setting and collecting fees.

The court also issued directions on students' rights. Students who spoke against fees or protested cannot face retaliatory action, and cannot be treated differently for doing so. A student treated unlawfully can approach the court for contempt proceedings, the judgment said.

UrduPoint reported the ruling as an order to private medical colleges to return excess fees, and framed it as a decision on the PMDC's power to set, approve and revise tuition fees at private colleges.

The reports did not give the amounts of excess fee involved or the number of colleges covered by the order.