NEET counselling is conducted online by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) of the DGHS (Directorate General of Health Services) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. The students qualifying the NEET examination under All India Quota have to undergo NEET counselling after the declaration of merit list based on their All India Rank. Every year, the counselling begins in the month of June for seats that are reserved under 15% All India Quota (except for Jammu & Kashmir) and the seats in Central Institutions like ESIC (Employee State Insurance Corporation), AFMC (Armed Forces Medical College), BHU (Banaras Hindu University), Delhi University, AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) and other deemed universities.
What are the key dates for NEET counselling 2020? Who is eligible for the counselling? What are the steps to be followed to appear for the counselling? Find an answer to all these questions in this article. It provides you with in-depth knowledge about NEET counselling, its key dates, qualifying criteria, step-wise procedure and much more.
NEET Counselling – Key Dates
The MCC conducts three rounds of NEET counselling for the students namely, Round 1, Round 2 and Mop-up Round. It generally begins in the month of June after the declaration of results. The NEET results for 2020 were expected to come out on 4th June 2020. However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the exam has been postponed due to which the result will be delayed. Considering the current situation, its counselling is also expected to get delayed. The table below highlights the tentative dates for NEET counselling 2020 based on NEET 2019 counselling schedule.
Key Dates for NEET Counselling 2020
| S.No. | Event | Important Date |
| 1. | Declaration of NEET Result | 4 June 2020* |
| 2. | Schedule for NEET Counselling (Round 1) | June 2020* |
| 3. | Schedule for NEET Counselling (Round 2) | July 2020* |
| 4. | Schedule for NEET Counselling (Round 3) | August 2020* |
*Delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Also Read: NEET RESULT – IMPORTANT DATES, CUT-OFF, MERIT LIST AND SCORE CARD
NEET Counselling – Qualifying Criteria
In order to be eligible for the NEET counselling process, the students need to fulfil certain qualifying criteria. The MCI (Medical Council of India) and DCI (Dental Council of India) has set some eligibility conditions that a student need to fulfil despite qualifying the NEET examination to be eligible for the NEET counselling and get admission to top institutions. The table given below highlights the detailed category-wise percentile requirement for the students to be eligible for NEET counselling.
Detailed Qualifying Criteria for NEET Counselling
| S.No. | Category | Minimum percentile requirement |
| 1. | Scheduled Caste (SC) | 40th percentile |
| 2. | Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 40th percentile |
| 3. | Other Backward Classes (OBC) | 40th percentile |
| 4. | Unreserved Category (UR) | 50th percentile |
| 5. | Physically handicapped – Unreserved (PH-UR) | 45th percentile |
| 6. | Physically handicapped – SC (PH-SC) | 40th percentile |
| 7. | Physically handicapped – ST (PH-ST) | 40th percentile |
| 8. | Physically handicapped – OBC (PH-OBC) | 40th percentile |
NEET Counselling – Step-by-Step Procedure
Since the MCC organises NEET counselling online, the students need to follow some pre-defined set of steps to complete the process hassle-free. The counselling process generally involves student’s registration, fee payment, choice submission, choice modification, choice locking and seat allocation. While the counselling process for All India Quota involves only two rounds, the counselling for deemed/central universities involve an additional mop-up round for the students. Here is a step-by-step description of the procedure that you need to follow to complete the counselling process.
Step 1: Student Registration
- Register online for the NEET counselling at the official website of MCC.
- Provide your personal and academic details to register.
Step 2: Fee Payment
- Once registered successfully, the students need to submit the counselling fee prescribed.
- Pay the counselling fee online through Net Banking/Debit Card/Credit Card.
Note: The amount of counselling fee to be paid, is prescribed by MCC when it starts the counselling process.
Step 3: Submission and Locking of Choices
- Based on the merit obtained by the student, he/she has to submit the preference of choices from the list of colleges visible on the screen.
- You can select as many preferences as per his/her NEET score.
- The students are also open to the provision of modifying their choices until they are locked.
- You can set the order of your preferences, delete or add the choices.
- Once you are satisfied with your preferences, you need to lock your choices before the deadline specified.
Step 4: Allotment of Seat
- After you have locked your preferences, the NEET counselling result for that particular round is declared. It includes the seat allotment list and seat allotment letter.
- If the student gets the seat as per his/her preference, he/she has to report to the allotted college for admission.
- Furthermore, if he/she wants an up-gradation in the second round of counselling, they can show their willingness for free exit/entry option.
- In case, the student does not take up the seat allotted to him/her, he/she has to appear for the second round of counselling and submit fresh choices for seat allotment. (Note: The registered students of the first round do not need to register again in the second round.)
To get a detailed overview of the counselling process, click here.
Also Read: NEET SYLLABUS – WHAT YOU MUST PREPARE?
NEET Counselling – Checking the Seat Matrix
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) also allows the students to check the seat matrix for different universities, colleges, institutions and state every year after the NEET counselling. With the help of the seat matrix, the students can get detailed information on institute-wise and branch-wise vacancies of seats. Also, they can get to know about the institution-wise distribution of seats among students of different categories. In order to get access to the seat matrix of the previous year, the students can visit the official website of MCC and click on the ‘Seat Matrix’ columns under the downloads section.
Furthermore, to view the distribution of seats among different category of a particular institution, the students can click on ‘View Seat Matrix’ section and fill in the details required to fetch the pre-requisite results.
NEET Counselling – QnA
Here is a compilation of some frequently asked questions related to NEET counselling to help you gain a better understanding of the process.
Q. Who is held responsible for organising the NEET counselling every year?
A. Every year, the NEET counselling is organised by the Medical Counselling Committee under the Directorate General of Health Services, Government of India.
Q. Is there any limitation to the numbers of choices that a student can fill at the time of counselling?
A. No, there is no such limitation applicable. The students can fill all the choices for which they are eligible and have opted at the time of registration.
Q. What are the conditions to be fulfilled by the students to be eligible for ESIC counselling?
A. The wards of individuals who are insured under ESI and have qualified NEET examination are eligible to attend the ESIC counselling.
Q. What does free exit in first round refer to?
A. If the candidate does not report or join the allotted college in round 1 counselling, he/she will still be eligible for further rounds without any penalty.
Q. Does the student have to visit a counselling centre for choice filling or registration?
A. No, the students need not to report to any counselling centre for choice filling and registration since the counselling is done online.
Q. What are the documents required while registering online for the counselling?
A. The students need to fill certain information mentioned in the application form. They do not require any documents at the time of online registration.
Q. Which documents are required when the student joins or reports at the allotted medical or dental college?
A. The students need to provide the following documents in original and attested photocopies at the time of joining or reporting the allocated college –
- NEET admit card
- Result or rank letter
- Certificate for the date of birth
- Class 12 mark sheet and certificate
- 8 passport size photographs
- Online generated provisional allotment letter
- Identity proof like Passport, PAN, Driving License or Aadhaar
- Other applicable certificates
Q. Who are the candidates eligible for the second round of counselling?
A. The second round of counselling is applicable for students belonging to the following groups –
Group 1: The candidates who are registered but did not get any seat allocation in Round 1.
Group 2: The candidates who are registered and have got a seat under reserved quota but failed at the time of document verification can also appear for the second-round subject to the seat availability in the respective category.
Group 3: The candidates who showed up at the allotted institute in the first round and submitted the willingness to up-gradation in the second round.
Group 4: The candidates who have got a seat allocated in the first round but did not join.
Group 5: The candidates who have resigned from seat allocated to them in the first round.
If you still have queries regarding the NEET counselling, you can refer to the address given below –
The Assistant Director General (ME)
Directorate General of Health Services,
Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi – 110108
E-mail: aiqpmt-mcc@nic.in
Also Read: NEET EXAM DATE – ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
