Thiruvananthapuram: Taking cognisance of the complaints filed by the parents of MBBS students, the Fee Regulatory Commission in Kerala has warned the medical colleges in the State against collecting advance fees from the students.In its warning issued to the medical colleges, the Fee panel, led by Justice KK Dinesan stated that such unreasonable demands could result in penal action against the medical college management involved in such practices.The Commission issued the warning after the parents of the students enrolled in the MBBS course at a Palakkad-based private medical college filed a petition before the Panel challenging the college’s demand from the students to pay their fifth-year annual fees and special fees before completing their fourth-year examinations, scheduled to commence only by May 2025.Also Read: Action will be taken if private medical colleges charge 5X fees for management quota from students: FRA, MaharashtraAs per the latest media report by the Times of India, the college management argued in a counter statement that even though the tuition fees are paid over five years, the actual course duration for the MBBS course is only four years and six months. It was claimed by the college that the last six months of the course constitute the house surgency period and therefore, it was not improper to ask the students to pay the fifth-year fee before the completion of the fourth year.However, the Fee Authority has clarified that medical colleges are permitted to collect annual fees based on the year in which the student attends the classes. If the college had to collect the fees as they had contended, the students would be compelled to pay the entire fee within four years instead of five. Therefore, the committee concluded that the concerned college was entitled to demand or collect tuition fees from the students in advance as it violated the order issued by the Fee Regulatory Committee. It also specified that demanding early payment of fees from the students had no legal or factual basis. Therefore, any action on the part of the college to force the students to pay the fees before the completion of the fourth-year examinations would be illegal.TOI has reported that the Fee Committee further emphasised that any order by the regulatory committee would invite penal action against the college for engaging in the prohibited act of profiteering.Also Read: Karnataka: Fee Regulatory Committee formed to fix MBBS fees for next 4 years