Maharashtra MBBS counselling: round-by-round exit rules

Maharashtra is the odd one out. There is no large security deposit before choice filling for state-quota government seats. Instead the state holds your original certificates until the course ends, and your future round turns on a single form. The heavy money is a ten-lakh service bond that only bites if you leave the course, not during counselling.

This page covers the CET Cell state counselling for the 85% Maharashtra quota in government and private colleges through the computer-assisted preference (CAP) rounds.

Who runs it

The State Common Entrance Test Cell conducts counselling at cetcell.mahacet.org for the state quota.

Deposits and fees, by category

There is no upfront online security deposit for state government seats. Fees are paid at the college on admission, and they are sharply category-differentiated.

The ₹10,000 is a refundable library deposit, not a seat-blocking security amount. The female concession is explicit: female EWS and SEBC candidates are tuition-exempt where their male counterparts pay half.

How the rounds work

Round 1 carries no financial penalty for not reporting, since there is no deposit to lose, but non-reporting can cost the seat and your standing in later rounds, so "free" means free of cash, not of consequence. The status retention form is the pivot: submit it and you keep your current seat and stop upgrading, which freezes it; leave it unsubmitted, within the float rules, and you stay in the pool for a higher choice next round. By CAP Round 3 upgrades are over and an allotment must be joined; failing to report removes you from further rounds. For All India Quota private AYUSH seats the cell does charge ₹2,000 non-refundable plus a ₹50,000 deposit, forfeited if a Round 1 seat is not resigned before the deadline.

The bond comes later

A government MBBS seat carries a ₹10,00,000 service bond, triggered by letting the seat lapse, not serving the one mandatory bond year after the degree, or going abroad within five years of finishing. None of this touches you during counselling; it is a course-leaving penalty, not a deposit.

Reservation and eligibility

Domicile. Maharashtra domicile, or Class 10 and 12 passed in the state, with caste validity and a non-creamy-layer certificate for VJ/NT, OBC and SEBC candidates.

Reservation. SC 13%, ST 7%, OBC 19%, VJ(A) 3%, NT-B 2.5%, NT-C (Dhangar) 3.5%, NT-D (Vanjari) 2%, SBC 2%, the SEBC (Maratha) quota 10%, and EWS 10%, with PwD 5% as a horizontal quota. The Maratha SEBC quota under the 2024 Act applied in 2025 but its seat-matrix application was contested and revised mid-cycle, so a Maratha candidate should check how it stands for the year. Hilly-area and defence sub-quotas also exist.

What this means for your choices

The status retention form is the decision to understand: submitting it ends your upgrades, leaving it unsubmitted keeps you floating. Decide which you want before the deadline, because the default is float. The absence of a deposit makes Round 1 cash-free, but the certificate-holding and the CAP-3 hard-join rule still bind. The ten-lakh bond is a course-leaving question, not a counselling one; weigh it before you accept a government seat.