In a significant move to streamline the admission process for professional courses, the state government has amended its existing rules to introduce a fourth Centralised Admission Process (CAP) round for full-time undergraduate, postgraduate, integrated and dual degree technical courses.
The updated provisions, outlined in the “Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission to the Full-Time Professional Undergraduate, Post Graduate, Integrated or Dual Degree Technical Courses) (Amendment) Rules, 2025”, have been notified by the Higher and Technical Education Department.
The state has officially revised Rule 9 to read “Conduct of CAP Rounds II, III and IV” instead of just II and III. As per the notification, “The seats available for Rounds II, III and IV shall be published on the website by the CET Cell. The candidates eligible for respective Rounds II, III and IV are allowed to fill in and/or edit online option form filled in by the candidate for the previous round.”
Clarifying eligibility, the government stated that candidates who did not receive any allotment in earlier rounds or those who failed to fill option forms earlier would now be allowed to participate in subsequent rounds.
The notification lays out conditions for automatic seat freezing: “If a candidate is allotted the seat as per his first three and six preferences, in Round-II and Round-III, respectively, such allotment shall be auto freezed and the candidate shall accept the allotment so made.” Such candidates are not allowed to participate in subsequent CAP rounds.
It further adds, “Candidate who have been allotted seat other than the first three and six preferences and if the candidate is satisfied with such allotment and do not wish to participate in further CAP rounds may freeze the offered seat.” Failing to report or complete online scrutiny results in automatic forfeiture.
Rule 10 has also been amended to change the criteria for admission to First Year Design programmes. Now, admission will be “on the basis of score of the Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination (CET) for Design (UCEED) examination conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and then if the seats remain vacant, on the basis of D. Voc. marks.”
A major addition appears in Rule 12, where a new clause (q) has been inserted to govern admissions through collaborative and twinning modes. The rule specifies: “Eligibility for admission to First Year of Under Graduate/Post Graduate /Dual Degree/Integrated Courses through collaborative/twinning mode shall be same as admission to first year of respective professional courses and it is as per the additional norms, if any, prescribed by the Appropriate Authority.” It also states, “Lateral Entry and supernumerary seats shall not be allowed in Foreign Collaboration and Twinning Programme,” and that “Admissions to these courses shall be made by the institutes, as per rule 13 of these rules.”
In keeping with these changes, Rule 13 now specifies that institutional admissions shall be carried out “after the CAP Rounds.” Additionally, institutions inviting applications must do so “till the date of allotment of final CAP Round.” A new clause clarifies that candidates who cannot apply directly to an institution “may apply through CET Cell website. These applications shall be forwarded to the institutions after allotment of final CAP Round and shall be considered for preparing inter-se merit.”
Lastly, Rule 15 has been amended to formalise the cancellation process. As per the updated clause, “Online request of the Candidate for cancellation shall be final. Such candidate shall be entitled for full refund after deduction of Rs1000 as processing fee only if the cancellation is effected before the date prescribed by the Competent Authority.” After this date, “Candidate shall be entitled only for refund of Security Deposit and Caution Money Deposit.”
