Maharashtra scraps the institutional round for private MBBS and BDS colleges
Maharashtra has scrapped the institutional round for admissions to private medical and dental colleges, under revised admission rules issued by the state’s Medical Education and Drugs Department on 23 July 2026. From this year, private college MBBS and BDS seats will be filled only through the centralised Common Admission Process (CAP) run by the State CET Cell.
The institutional round was the stage at the end of counselling where private colleges filled their leftover seats on their own. Students, parents and activists had long criticised it for opaque allotments and inflated fee demands. That route is now closed.
Key Fact: All private college UG medical and dental admissions in Maharashtra, including stray vacancy rounds, now happen only through CAP by the State CET Cell. Colleges can no longer run their own institutional round to fill vacant seats.
A two-year ban for seat-blocking
The revised rules add a penalty aimed at candidates who lock up a seat and then walk away. A candidate allotted a seat in the final counselling round who fails to join will be barred from Maharashtra UG medical and dental admissions for the next two years.
Watch Out: Free exit without penalty is available only after the first CAP round. If you accept an allotment in the final round and then abandon it, you risk a two-year ban from the state’s medical and dental admissions.
Why the institutional round change matters to you
For a genuine aspirant, one transparent process is an advantage. Your merit and CAP preferences decide the seat, not a college’s discretionary list, and the fee is the notified CAP fee rather than an on-the-spot demand. Any seat left vacant after CAP’s cut-off date simply stays vacant.
A CET Cell official put it this way: “Now that all admissions have to be through CAP, the CET Cell will conduct admissions till the cut-off date. If seats remain vacant even after that, they will remain vacant, with no possibility of an institutional round.”
What to do now
- Fill every private college you would genuinely accept in your CAP preference list; there is no institutional back door to catch a missed seat later.
- Treat the first CAP round as your free-exit checkpoint if you are unsure, since penalty-free withdrawal ends after it.
- Accept a final-round allotment only if you actually intend to join, to avoid the two-year ban.
- Track dates and the seat matrix on the State CET Cell site and register within the CAP window.
Frequently asked questions
Does this apply to deemed universities? No. Deemed university seats fill through MCC’s all-India counselling, not Maharashtra’s CAP. This change is for the state’s private medical and dental colleges.
Can a private college still call me directly to fill a vacant seat? No. With the institutional round removed, colleges cannot make their own allotments; every seat, including stray vacancies, goes through CAP.
When does the two-year ban apply? If you are allotted a seat in the final round and do not join. Withdrawing after the first round is penalty-free.
Is this only for MBBS? No. The revised rules cover both undergraduate medical (MBBS) and dental (BDS) admissions in private colleges.
Building your Maharashtra choice list? Order private colleges by your rank and category with our NEET college predictor, and check closing ranks on the Maharashtra cutoffs and Maharashtra colleges pages.