INI CET Counselling 2026: Registration Open till 13 Oct, Choice Filling and Round Wise Seat Allotment

INI CET 2026 Counselling is conducted by AIIMS New Delhi in centralised online mode for admission to MD, MS, MCh (6-year), DM (6-year), MDS, and MD (Hospital Administration) programmes at 20 Institutes of National Importance (INIs), including all AIIMS campuses, JIPMER Puducherry, PGIMER Chandigarh, NIMHANS Bengaluru, and SCTIMST Trivandrum. The entire process — registration, choice filling, allotment, and reporting — runs on the official portal at aiimsexams.ac.in, and a single registration covers all 20 INIs simultaneously.

• INI CET is held twice a year: the July session (exam in May) and the January session (exam in November).
• The July 2026 session counselling is complete — all four rounds (Mock, Round 1, Round 2, Open Round) concluded by August 21, 2026.
• The next cycle — INI CET November 1, 2026 (for January 2027 admissions) — is open for applications; registration closes October 13, 2026.
• Registering for counselling is mandatory — your INI CET rank alone does not guarantee a seat.
• Minimum qualifying percentile: 50th percentile for General/OBC/EWS and 45th percentile for SC/ST/PwBD.
• Over 875 postgraduate seats across MD, MS, DM, MCh, MDS, and allied programmes are available each session.

Reservation of Quotas for INI CET Counselling 2026

AIIMS and all participating INIs follow the Government of India’s reservation policy for PG admissions through INI CET counselling. 59.5% of all available postgraduate seats are reserved for students from officially recognised categories. Reservation is applied across the total seat matrix for the 20 participating INIs; individual institute-level counts may vary.

Key points on reservation for INI CET 2026 counselling:

• OBC-NCL certificates older than one year from the last INI CET application date are not accepted. Renew yours in advance if it is approaching expiry.
• EWS certificates issued before April 1, 2026 are invalid for the 2026–27 cycle. A fresh certificate from the competent revenue authority is required.
• PwBD reservation is horizontal — a PwBD-OBC student occupies a seat from the OBC quota. The 5% applies proportionally across all five vertical categories.
• The Institutional Preference (IP) quota is available at most AIIMS campuses for their own MBBS graduates applying for MD/MS. IP seats are additional to the regular matrix and do not reduce open or reserved quota seats for other students.
• The Sponsored category at select INIs is for candidates deputed by government departments (ESIC, Railways, AFMS, etc.). These are over and above the regular seat matrix and require authorised sponsorship documentation.

How to Apply for INI CET Counselling 2026?

INI CET 2026 counselling is conducted entirely online on the AIIMS examination portal. Students who qualify the INI CET at the minimum percentile must register for counselling separately — exam registration does not carry over. The five steps below apply to both the July and January sessions.

Step 1: Online Registration

Visit aiimsexams.ac.in and navigate to the PG / INI CET Counselling section. Click "New Registration" and enter your INI CET registration number, date of birth, and registered mobile number. The portal sends a unique Candidate ID and system-generated password to your mobile and email. Log in immediately to verify your personal details, category, and academic information. Any mismatch between your entered details and the exam records must be reported to AIIMS before the registration deadline — corrections after the window closes are not permitted.

Step 2: Counselling Fee Payment

Pay the non-refundable counselling registration fee online via net banking, UPI, or debit/credit card. Your registration remains incomplete until payment is confirmed; an unpaid registration is not considered for any round. The fee varies by category (see the Fees section below). Keep the payment receipt — you will need it at document verification and at institute reporting. The fee is charged once per session and covers all rounds including the Open Round; you do not pay it again for Round 2 within the same session.

Step 3: Choice Filling and Locking

After completing fee payment, the Choice Filling module becomes accessible. The published seat matrix lists every available institute-programme combination for that session, along with category-wise vacancy counts. Add the combinations you want and arrange them strictly in descending order of preference — position 1 is your most desired option. The allotment algorithm assigns the highest preference your rank can reach. Fill at least 15–20 choices to maximise your chances across all rounds. Before the deadline, manually lock your list; choices not locked manually are auto-locked at 5:00 PM on the closing day. Locking is irreversible for that round.

Step 4: Seat Allotment

AIIMS runs the allotment engine using rank, category, and locked preferences against the seat matrix. The allotment result is published on the portal as a downloadable PDF. If you receive an allotted seat, log in and exercise one of three options within the response window: Accept & Freeze (take the seat and exit further rounds), Accept & Upgrade (keep the seat while remaining eligible for a higher preference in the next round), or Withdraw (give up the seat entirely). Failure to respond by the deadline is treated as implicit withdrawal — the seat returns to the pool and the registration fee is forfeited.

Step 5: Seat Acceptance and Reporting

After selecting Accept & Freeze or Accept & Upgrade, pay the refundable security deposit online — or opt to submit original documents in lieu of cash at institute reporting. Download the provisional allotment letter from the portal. Report to the allotted institute by the published reporting deadline with all original documents. The institute verifies documents and completes admission formalities. If any document is found invalid or missing at reporting, the allotment is cancelled on the spot — the registration fee is not refunded, and the security deposit (if paid online) is returned.

How to Lock Choices for INI CET Counselling 2026?

Choice locking is the single most critical action in INI CET counselling. Once you confirm the lock, your list is frozen for that round and fed directly into the allotment algorithm — no edits are possible after confirmation. Follow these steps carefully before the deadline.

Step 1: Log In to the AIIMS Portal

• Go to aiimsexams.ac.in.
• Click "Counselling Login" under the PG / INI CET section.
• Enter your Candidate ID and password to reach your dashboard.

Step 2: Open the Choice Filling Module

• Click "Choice Filling and Locking" on your dashboard.
• The seat matrix for the current round appears, listing all available institute-programme combinations with category-wise vacancy counts.

Step 3: Select and Arrange Preferences

• Click "Add" next to every institute-programme you wish to include.
• Use the drag-and-drop feature or the up/down arrows to order them precisely — position 1 is your most preferred option.
• The algorithm allocates the highest preference your rank can achieve, so the order matters more than the count.

Step 4: Preview and Verify

• Click "Preview" to review the final ordered list before locking.
• Confirm programme name, institute name, and position for every entry — order cannot be changed after locking.

Step 5: Lock Choices and Save Confirmation

• Click "Lock Choices". A confirmation dialog will appear.
• Confirm by clicking "OK" or by entering the OTP sent to your registered mobile number.
• Download and save the lock confirmation receipt as proof of successful locking.

Once confirmed, your choices are locked and cannot be changed for the current round. If you do not manually lock, the system auto-locks at 5:00 PM on the last day of the choice filling window.

INI CET Counselling Documents Required 2026

Upload scanned copies of all documents during online counselling registration. At institute reporting, carry original documents plus two sets of self-attested photocopies. Any document found invalid, forged, or absent at reporting results in immediate cancellation of the allotment with no refund of the registration fee.

• INI CET 2026 Rank Card / Score Card — downloaded from aiimsexams.ac.in
• MBBS / BDS degree certificate or provisional degree certificate from a recognised university (BDS required for MDS programmes)
• MBBS / BDS mark sheets — all parts and years
• Internship completion certificate — issued by the dean or principal of your medical or dental college, bearing an official seal
• NMC / DCI registration certificate — NMC for MD/MS/DM/MCh; DCI for MDS; registration must be valid and current
• Category certificate (SC/ST/OBC-NCL/EWS) in prescribed GoI format — OBC-NCL within 1 year of INI CET application date; EWS from current financial year (FY 2026–27)
• PwBD disability certificate from a central or state government competent authority, if applicable
• Sponsorship certificate on official letterhead — for sponsored category students only
• Photo identity proof — one government-issued document: Aadhaar card, passport, or Voter ID
• Recent passport-size photographs — six copies, white background, formal attire
• Anti-ragging undertaking — signed by you and your parent or guardian in the format specified by the allotted institute
• Migration certificate from the last university attended
• Character certificate from the principal of your MBBS / BDS college
• Gap certificate (if applicable) — for any break in academics between completing MBBS/BDS and applying for PG admission
• Counselling fee payment receipt
• Provisional allotment letter — downloaded from the AIIMS portal after seat acceptance

Note: OBC-NCL certificates dated more than one year before the INI CET application closing date are invalid. EWS certificates issued before April 1, 2026 are not accepted for the 2026–27 cycle. Renew these documents before counselling registration opens — not at the institute reporting stage, when it is too late.

How Much Money is Needed for INI CET Counselling 2026?

INI CET counselling involves two payments: a non-refundable registration fee paid when you register for counselling, and a refundable security deposit paid after seat acceptance. The registration fee is paid once per session; the security deposit is collected only if and when you accept an allotted seat.

Non-Refundable Fees

The counselling registration fee is paid at the start of each session’s counselling window. It is not refunded under any circumstance — regardless of whether you receive a seat, whether you withdraw, or whether the round you registered for yields no allotment.

Refundable Fees (Security Deposit)

After accepting a seat (Freeze or Upgrade), you must pay a refundable security deposit online, or choose the original-documents-in-lieu route — submitting your originals at institute reporting in place of cash. The deposit is returned when you complete all admission and joining formalities at the allotted institute. If you withdraw after accepting a seat or fail to report to the institute after allotment, the security deposit is forfeited as a penalty.

Note: The exact security deposit amount is published in the official INI CET counselling brochure released on aiimsexams.ac.in for each session. Always verify the current amount from the official source before making payment, as it may be revised across sessions.

INI CET 2026 Round-Wise Seat Allotment

Each INI CET session runs four counselling rounds: a non-binding Mock Round to help you calibrate your choices, two binding allotment rounds (Round 1 and Round 2), and a final Open Round for any seats that remain vacant after Round 2. The Open Round allows fresh registrations, so a student who missed earlier rounds can still apply. Seats unoccupied after the Open Round lapse for that session — there are no further rounds.

Vacant seats after the Open Round are not filled and lapse for that session. If you miss all four rounds including the Open Round, you must wait for the next INI CET session’s counselling.

Upgrade, Freeze, or Withdraw: Which to Choose?

After each binding round (Round 1 and Round 2), students who receive an allotted seat must choose one of three options within the response window. Missing the window is equivalent to Withdraw. The right choice depends on your satisfaction with the current allotment and whether a better preference is realistically within reach given your rank.

Note: Always set multiple reminders for every response deadline in the counselling schedule — AIIMS does not grant individual extensions. Missing a window has the same consequences whether the reason is technical or personal.