NCAHP notifies registration regulations for allied and healthcare professionals

The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) has notified the Registration of Allied and Healthcare Professionals Regulations, 2026. They set out how professionals in recognised professions register with State Councils and the Central Register, how registration is renewed, and the continuing professional development needed to renew.

What happened

NCAHP made the regulations with the previous approval of the Central Government under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021. The notification is dated 31 August 2026 and appears in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary), Part III, Section 4, No. 550, dated 9 September 2026. The regulations come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. NCAHP uploaded the text to its website on 15 September 2026.

Under the regulations, a person may practise a recognised profession as an allied and healthcare professional after registering in the manner they specify. Eligibility for a State Register requires a recognised primary qualification listed in Schedule I, obtained from a recognised institution, and the exit examination specified by the Commission. Until NCAHP specifies that examination, the final examination of the recognised institution is treated as the exit examination. Each registered professional receives a unique identification (UID) number.

Where a State or Union Territory does not yet have a functional State Council, residents apply to the Commission for entry in the Central Register; the regulations set that registration fee at ₹2,000. State registration fees are prescribed by State Governments.

Registration is valid for five years. Renewal requires at least 15 hours of continuing professional development a year and 75 hours across the five-year period, with no more than half completed online. A registration that is not renewed in time is shown as inactive, and a professional may not practise while inactive.

Schedule I lists recognised qualifications profession by profession. Under Category 7, Community Care, Behavioural Health Sciences and Other Professionals, it lists "Psychologist (Except Clinical Psychologist covered under RCI for PWD)", with the four-year Bachelor of Psychology (B.Psy) and a range of existing undergraduate and postgraduate psychology qualifications, each subject to the conditions set out in the schedule.

Why it matters

This is the first detailed statement of how registration under the 2021 Act will work in practice: where professionals register, which qualifications are listed and what is needed to stay registered. Psychology and allied health graduates should check the schedule entry for their own degree, because eligibility depends on the specific qualification, duration and mode of study listed.

Eligibility for regular registration is tied to the qualifications in Schedule I. Anyone weighing a course or credential against the new framework should look for that qualification in the schedule rather than rely on a provider’s description of it.

What happens next

People who were offering services in a recognised category on or before the Act came into force, but who do not hold a recognised qualification, are directed to provisional registration under separate regulations made under section 38 of the Act. Those regulations are referred to but not contained in this notification.

The exit examination is still to be specified by the Commission. NCAHP has also published draft Registered Allied and Healthcare Professionals (Professional Conduct & Ethics) Regulations, 2026 for consultation; at the time of this update they remain in draft.

Sources

• National Commission for Allied and Healthcare ProfessionsRegistration of Allied and Healthcare Professionals Regulations, 2026 (Gazette of India)
• National Commission for Allied and Healthcare ProfessionsDraft regulations