India’s apex medical education regulator received 360 complaints of doctors’ misconduct since 2023 and rejected appeals in more than half of these cases.Responding to a Tribune query under the Right to Information Act, the National Medical Commission (NMC) disclosed that its Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) had received 360 complaints against doctors from January 2023 to August this year.The Commission, which also regulates professional conduct and medical ethics in the country, added that it had rejected 57% of the appeals. The complaints involved grievances of professional misconduct and medical negligence by the doctors.In the RTI, the NMC also mentioned that it accepted 150 appeals while 74 were pending for approval. Importantly, the RTI reply further reveals that the five-member ethics board is currently operating with just one member.According to rules, a patient can file a professional misconduct or medical negligence complaint against a doctor with the respective State Medical Council (SMC) where the doctor is registered. If the response is not satisfactory, the patient can file an appeal with the EMRB within 60 days of the order.The Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, states that any complaint with regard to professional misconduct can be brought before the appropriate Medical Council for disciplinary action. Upon receipt of any complaint of professional misconduct, the medical council would hold an enquiry and give the registered medical practitioner an opportunity to be heard in person. “If the medical practitioner is found to be guilty of committing professional misconduct, the appropriate medical council may award such punishment as deemed necessary or may direct the removal altogether or for a specified period, from the register of the name of the delinquent registered practitioner,” the Indian Medical Council clause says.The punishment, if the NMC finds a doctor guilty of misconduct, can either suspend them from a medical college for a fixed term or permanently debar them. The doctors can also lose their license.“Registration of two associate professors of government medical colleges in Jaipur and Ajmer were suspended by the Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC). One of them faced action for allegedly taking a patient from SMS Hospital to a private hospital for her treatment and another’s licence was suspended for providing false information in her (annual confidential report (ACR) and also for mentioning misleading qualification on her prescription letter. Likewise, medical councils in Karnataka and Delhi have also taken action against doctors for tampering with medical records,” an official with the NMC said.A recent case also involves action against 30 doctors for allegedly accepting luxury foreign trips funded by a pharmaceutical company. The case lingered from 2024-2025 with the NMC. A special audit committee of the Department of Pharmaceuticals had also asked NMC to take action against the offending doctors. NMC recommended action against the doctors who then approached the Delhi High Court, which stayed the disciplinary proceedings in August 2026.