NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) on Thursday said fresh medical graduates applying for a licence to practise medicine will be automatically registered on the National Medical Register (NMR), a central database of modern medicine practitioners.
The automatic registration will take place only after the State Medical Commission (SMC) clears their names for medical practice in the country.
Speaking to TNIE, NMC Secretary Dr Raghav Langer said no fee would be charged for an NMR registration number for medical practitioners.
He also said that doctors currently practising medicine who have applied for an NMR number will have to go through the registration process.
On the slow pace of NMR registration, which was launched on August 23, 2024, Dr Langer said, "We are in the process of generating NMR IDs for doctors already registered with any SMC. It is being simplified, and they will need to register in the unified portal for Aadhaar authentication, and based on their credential verification from the SMR database, an NMR ID shall be generated seamlessly."
He added that the NMC is developing a Unified PAN India Registration Portal, which will ensure that any doctor registering afresh with an SMC will have their NMR ID automatically generated.
“The SMR and NMR databases are accordingly being synchronised on a real-time basis,” he added.
The NMC has proposed a draft Registration of Medical Practitioners and License to Practice Medicine (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, which states that “the concerned State Medical Council shall satisfy itself and consider the application for grant of Registration and licence to practice medicine after charging an appropriate fee within a period of 30 days. On approval of the application by the State Medical Council, the same shall be reflected in the State Medical Register & the National Medical Register."
Dr Langer said the word "registration" was added "as in the Indian context registration and licence go hand in hand."
“These are not dissociated terms. Registration and license to practice medicine in India are the same thing. We added the word "registration" because you have to get yourself registered in the National Medical Register. So your name has to be registered with the National Medical Register. And accordingly, then you get a license to practice medicine throughout the country. The two concepts work together and run concurrently in the Indian medical context and we will not be charging a fee for NMR," he further added.