The National Medical Commission consists of 33 members who lay down policies for medical education and ensure coordination among the four autonomous boards (archive)Medical colleges have lost the rulebook that spelled out how they could be penalised when irregularities were found. The National Medical Commission (NMC) has withdrawn the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (MSMER-2023), with immediate effect. Gone with it are the fixed fines, the seat cuts and the personal penalties for doctors who submit false records.However, a key component of the MSMER 2023, the Annual Disclosure Report (ADR), which every medical institution files, will continue as before.What was Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Rules?It was the NMC’s enforcement manual. It told colleges what would happen if they fell short of minimum standards, misreported their facilities, or acted against the goals of medical education. It also told them how to fight back if they thought a penalty was unfair.What goes away? The penalty ladder. The rulebook let the NMC’s boards respond in steps. At the mild end was a warning and a direction to fix the problem. At the heavy end were:–Fines of up to Rs 1 crore per violation–Withholding or withdrawing accreditation for up to five academic years–Freezing applications for new courses or extra seats–Cutting seats, or stopping admissions to a course altogether–Recommending that the college’s permission to operate be withdrawnA college that tried to lean on the NMC or its boards through middlemen could also see all its pending applications put on hold.Story continues below this adPersonal fines for false declarations. The rules reached individuals too. A faculty member, department head, dean, director or doctor who submitted false declarations or records, including patient records, could be fined up to Rs 5 lakh and face professional misconduct action.This was the clause aimed at problems like “ghost faculty” and doctored patient files, because it made the people who signed off on a college’s claims personally answerable. That specific fine no longer exists.The fixed appeal route. A penalised college could appeal to the NMC within 60 days. If it was unhappy with the outcome, or the NMC didn’t decide within 45 days, it could go to the Central Government within 30 days, and that decision was final. The timetable came from MSMER-2023, so it goes too.What staysThe ADR. Colleges must still disclose details of their faculty, infrastructure and facilities every year. The requirement doesn’t depend on MSMER-2023 alone, because it also comes from the NMC Act, the parent law, which the withdrawal doesn’t touch. Colleges should keep following the ADR rules and any regulations the NMC issues later.Story continues below this adThe wider legal framework. The NMC Act and the commission’s other regulations still apply. Criminal law also stays in force, and the withdrawn rules themselves noted that fabricating documents can invite criminal proceedings. Scrapping a rulebook doesn’t make false records any less of an offence.While colleges no longer have fixed penalties under this rulebook, they are required to still follow the law and disclose required information. The Rs 5 lakh fine for faculty and administrators has been removed, but signing false information can still lead to disciplinary action or criminal charges under other laws.