NEET-MDS free exit and security deposit: when leaving a seat costs you
Based on MCC’s NEET-MDS Counselling 2026 bulletin and notices (listed under Sources). Always check mcc.nic.in before you pay or lock anything. FindMyBranch is not part of MCC.
When you register for MCC’s NEET-MDS counselling you pay two amounts. The registration fee never comes back. The security deposit comes back at the end, unless you break a rule. The most important rule is simple: only Round 1 lets you leave a seat for free. MCC calls this the free exit.
Got your rank? See which seats closed near it.
Check my MDS optionsHow much you pay
| Seats you apply for | Registration fee (not refunded) | Security deposit (refunded) |
|---|---|---|
| All India Quota and central universities, UR and EWS | ₹1,000 | ₹25,000 |
| All India Quota and central universities, SC, ST, OBC and PwD | ₹500 | ₹10,000 |
| Deemed universities, everyone | ₹5,000 | ₹2,00,000 |
- If you apply for both All India Quota and deemed university seats, you pay only the deemed university amounts.
- You must pay the full amount before you can fill choices.
- Pay from your own account or card. The deposit can only go back to the account it came from.
Round by round
| Round | You get a seat but do not join, or you leave it | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Free exit. You keep your deposit. | You can take part in Round 2 without registering again. |
| Round 2 | You lose your security deposit. This is called exit with forfeiture. | The same applies if you were upgraded into a Round 2 seat and did not join it, or joined and then resigned. You can register again for Round 3 with a fresh fee. |
| Round 3 (earlier called mop-up) | You lose your deposit and you are out of all further MCC rounds. | A seat joined in Round 3 cannot be resigned or upgraded. |
| Stray vacancy round | You lose your security deposit. | If you get a stray round seat, you are expected to report and join. |
MCC applies the rules of the round that is running to everyone, even to a seat from an earlier round. So the Round 1 free exit is for Round 1. Once Round 2 starts, Round 2 rules apply.
Freeze, Float and your deposit (new in 2026)
After a Round 1 or Round 2 seat, you choose one of two options. You can submit it only once.
- Freeze: you keep the seat. You go to the college with your original documents and join.
- Float: you want a better seat in the next round. You upload your documents, the college checks them online, and you do not have to go there yet.
- If a Float candidate is upgraded, the earlier seat is cancelled at once. You have no claim on it.
- Chose Float but now want to keep your seat? Do not fill any choices in the next round. Your current seat stays yours.
- From Round 2 on, if you get a seat and neither report to the college nor submit your Float choice in time, the deposit is forfeited.
- After the Round 3 result, everyone allotted in Round 3, and every Float candidate who was not upgraded, must report to the college in person.
Other ways to lose the deposit
- Your admission is cancelled for any reason. For example, something you entered at registration was wrong, or you could not show the required documents at admission. The MDS documents checklist helps you avoid this.
- You gave wrong information about your eligibility for a central university’s internal quota (DU, AMU or BHU). MCC cancels your candidature for later rounds and forfeits the deposit.
Leaving a seat after its round: resignation
- Resignation, where MCC allows it, is done only online, through MCC’s portal. A resignation letter given to the college on paper is not accepted.
- A Freeze candidate resigns in person at the college. A Float candidate resigns online from their own login.
- Once you resign, you have no claim on that seat.
- In 2026, MCC opened a resignation window for Round 1 and Round 2 seats (Freeze, and Float not upgraded) from 26 to 30 September 2026. It was with forfeiture of the security deposit. A Float candidate had to generate the seat withdrawal slip online, or the resignation counted as null and void.
Getting your deposit back
- You get it back if you were not given any seat in any round, or if you did not break any rule above.
- Refunds start only after all rounds are over. MCC announces that counselling has finished and publishes the list of candidates due a refund on mcc.nic.in. You do not need to apply.
- MCC’s financial custodian, HLL Lifecare Ltd, starts the refund within 15 working days and completes it within 30 days of that list. Your bank may take a further 2 to 15 days to credit it.
- It goes back only to the same card or bank account you paid from. Keep that account open until the money arrives.
- Do not raise a chargeback with your card’s bank. MCC says this only delays the refund.
- MCC cannot refund to an NRI account. To pay from NRI funds, move them to an NRO account first; the refund goes to the NRO account.
- No interest is paid on the deposit.
- Refund questions go to financemcc@lifecarehll.com, from the email you registered with MCC, and only 10 days after counselling closes or 15 days after MCC publishes the refund details.
What MCC does not decide
Charges a college takes when you upgrade or resign are the college’s own, not MCC’s. Ask the college before you join. Tuition fee, stipend and service bond are set by each college and state, and an All India Quota seat in a state college can carry that state’s bond. State counselling is a separate process; read your state’s own notice for its deposit and exit rules.
More: how NEET-MDS counselling works, Round 3 and the stray round and MCC seat vs state seat.
Only fill seats you would really join. See which MDS seats closed near your rank in past years.
Check MDS optionsSources
- MCC NEET-MDS Counselling 2026 Information Bulletin and Counselling Scheme
- MCC NEET-MDS Counselling 2026 Candidate User Guide
- MCC notice on resignation of Round 1 and 2 seats (25 September 2026)
All rules on this page are from MCC’s documents for NEET-MDS counselling 2026. Amounts and rules are re-issued every year. Read the bulletin for your own year.