Know before you lock
What leaving a seat costs — MCC exit rules 2026
More money is lost to these rules than to any wrong college choice: the exit door narrows every round, and by Round 3 it is welded shut. From MCC's own 2026 information bulletin — read this before you lock choices, not after an allotment.
Security ₹10,000 (UR/EWS) or ₹5,000 (SC/ST/OBC/PwD) — refundable. Registration ₹1,000/₹500 — not.
Security ₹2,00,000 — refundable. Registration ₹5,000 — not. Applying for both? Pay only the higher (deemed) fee.
“Refundable” has rules of its own — see the refund traps below. The forfeiture rules are what turn this deposit into the price of a wrong move.
Round 1free exit
FREE EXIT — an allotted candidate who does not want the seat can exit without forfeiture of security deposit.
- Freeze candidates must physically report at the college with originals; float candidates must not report but MUST submit scanned documents online.
- Registered-but-not-allotted candidates flow into Round 2 automatically — no fresh registration.
Round 2exit = deposit gone
Exit costs the deposit: resigning after joining a Round-2 seat, or not reporting for it, forfeits the security amount.
- After forfeiting, Round-3 participation needs FRESH payment of security deposit.
- Joining R2 and filing willingness for upgradation is free — resigning is what forfeits.
Round 3no exit after joining
No vacation: once joined, a Round-3 seat cannot be vacated. Exit-with-forfeiture eliminates you from all further rounds. Not reporting for an allotted R3 seat = forfeiture + elimination.
- Upgraded in Round 3 means NO claim on the Round-2 seat — the old seat is gone the moment the upgrade lands.
- After Round 3, resigning/surrendering a joined seat is not permitted at all.
Stray roundmust join
Must join: a stray-round allottee has to take the seat. Not joining forfeits the deposit and bars participation in any further round.
- Stray data is shared with every state to weed out double-holders — a state allotment elsewhere eliminates you from the AIQ stray round.
- Register for stray only if you will genuinely join whatever it allots.
Your state seat and your AIQ seat
The two systems talk to each other — late. MCC shares allotment data with every state after Round 3 and again after stray, and states weed out double-holders from their own rounds. What that means in practice:
- Holding an AIQ allotment while your state's R1 runs is normal and allowed — the squeeze arrives at R3/stray, when the data-sharing starts eliminating names.
- Leaving a JOINED state seat for an AIQ upgrade is governed by the STATE's own bond and forfeiture rules — some states charge their own security or bar their later rounds. MCC's free-exit does not protect you from a state's rule, or vice versa.
- A state allotment on record eliminates you from MCC's stray round, and a stray allotment eliminates you from state strays. By the endgame, you are in ONE system.
- The timing is the trap: state R1 windows close before MCC R2 results. Decide each seat with both calendars open — they are side by side here.
Reporting day — what to actually carry
Reporting is where a won seat is still lost: a missing original, a certificate in the wrong format, or a deadline treated as end-of-day when the college closed its counter at 2 PM. Per MCC-bulletin practice — the college can and will ask for more:
- Allotment letter (printed)
- NEET admit card + scorecard/rank letter
- Class 10 certificate (DOB proof)
- Class 12 certificate & marksheet
- Photo ID (the one used at the NEET exam)
- 8–10 passport photos (same as NEET form)
- Category certificate (central format for AIQ)
- EWS/NCL certificate — current financial year
- PwD certificate from a designated centre, if claimed
- Fee payment proof / DD as the college specifies
Originals + two photocopy sets of everything. Colleges retain originals at admission in many states — that is normal, but get a signed receipt listing every document handed over. Your documents checklist tracks these per your state and category.
Missed a deadline? What is actually recoverable
- Missed R1 or R2 registration: fully recoverable — fresh registration opens for the next round (with full fees). Registered-but-unallotted candidates roll forward automatically.
- Missed choice-locking but choices were saved: MCC has historically auto-locked saved choices at window close — but do not rely on it; the bulletin's language is “saved choices”, and an empty list auto-locks to nothing.
- Missed reporting for an allotted R1/R2 seat: the seat is gone; R1 costs nothing, R2 costs the deposit. The next round is still open to you (R2 loss needs fresh security payment).
- Missed reporting for an R3 or stray seat: not recoverable — forfeiture plus elimination from everything after. This is the deadline to move house for.
- Whatever happened on the MCC side, your state's rounds are a separate system with separate deadlines — a national mistake does not automatically cost the state list, and vice versa.
Getting the deposit back
- When: Only after ALL rounds complete; MCC notifies on mcc.nic.in. Refund initiated within 15 days of that notice, completed within 30.
- Where: To the SAME card/account the deposit came from — keep it active until the refund lands; a closed account means months of delay.
- The chargeback trap: Never raise a card chargeback for the deposit — it legally blocks the direct refund and adds a no-objection-certificate process.