Key observations on “Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practice Medicine Regulations, 2023”.
National Medical Commission (Ethics And Medical Registration Board) notification dated 10th May 2023 No. R.15021/04/2022-EMRB-Reg. has notified certain regulations relating to the registration and licensing of Indian medically qualified doctors and foreign medically qualified doctors (“Regulation”).
The Regulation has introduced and defined “Indian Medical Register” which is defined under Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, the medical register maintained by the Ethics & Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the National Medical Commission before coming into force of the National Medical Register (NMR).
The Regulation introduces UID and has defined it. “Sponsor/supervisor” shall be a registered Medical Practitioner and having valid Unique Identification (UID) Number and have licence to practice in India.
Regulation 4 prescribes Registration in National Medical Register (NMR) for licence to practice.
Any person who obtains a primary medical qualification recognized under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, and qualifies for the National Exit Test held under section 15 of the Act, shall be entitled for grant of registration in NMR.
National exit test has been prescribed for both Indian and foreign medical practitioners if they have to enrol in National Medical Register.
Generation of Unique Identification (UID) Number:
An UID shall be generated centrally by the Ethics & Medical Registration Board (EMRB), National Medical Commission (NMC) and thereby grant the practitioner, Registration in NMR and Eligibility to practice medicine in India.
Until such time that these Regulations and appropriate sections are in force, licence to practice and the prevailing system of Registration shall continue.
The Ethics and Medical Registration Board shall maintain a National Register of medical Practitioners. The National Register shall contain all the entries of the registered medical practitioners of all State registers maintained by the State Medical Councils.
Validity of License: The license to practice medicine issued to a registered medical practitioner shall be valid for Five years, after which the medical practitioner shall have to renew the licensing by applying to the State Medical Council as per the procedure specified under clause 6 (ii) of these Regulations.
Renewal of License : The application for renewal of a licence may be made before three months of the expiration of the validity of licence, provided that if no application is received within three months of the expiration of the validity of license, the entry of the name of the medical practitioner in the State Register shall be converted as inactive and the person shall not be entitled to practice medicine. The entry of the status – ‘inactive’ made in the State Register against a medical practitioner, shall automatically reflected in the National Register.
This means that once a medical practitioner’s status is converted as inactive the concerned medical practitioner shall not be entitled to practice.
Transfer of License: If any medical practitioner registered with the State Medical Council, desirous to practice medicine in another State may apply to the concerned State through the web portal of the Ethics & Medical Registration Board in accordance with the procedure specific in Clause 6(ii) of these Regulations.
The license to practice from the state medical council to practice medicine continues to be in force.
Transitory Provisions: All the existing medical practitioners enrolled in the Indian Medical Register or the State Medical Register, not having the registration number as per these regulations shall update in the web portal of the Ethics & Medical Registration Board within a period of three months of publishing of these regulations and obtain the Registration Number as a onetime measure and the license so generated shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of issuance. For the purpose of updating of license of a such medical practitioner, no fee shall be charged by EMRB, NMC.
The transitory provision provides a window of three months from the date of the publication of the Regulation to enrol and obtain a registration number as one time and a license for five years.
AHL has to check and verify the doctors listed on its platform the registration number and license issued from the NMC after 3 months.