Bengaluru, September 29, 2026: If you are taking part in Karnataka NEET UG Counselling 2026, there is an important deadline today. The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) will close the Round 3 “fresh option entry” window at 11:00 AM on September 29, 2026. This is the most time-sensitive task in the current round, and if you miss it, you may lose the chance to be considered for Round 3 allotment.

KEA issued the Round 3 (Third Round) online seat allotment notification on September 23, 2026, followed by a corrigendum on September 25, 2026. Together, these updates make it clear that today’s 11 AM cut-off is only for option entry, while the caution deposit payment deadline has been pushed later.

You must enter fresh options in Round 3

The key instruction is that options filled in Round 1 or Round 2 will not be considered for Round 3. In other words, you need to enter a fresh set of choices (college, course and seat category preferences) specifically for Round 3. If you assumed your earlier preference list would carry forward automatically, treat this as a correction and act immediately.

Round 3 may include seats left vacant after Round 2, and also seats that become available due to cancellations, forfeitures, or newly added/consequential vacancies during the process.

Caution deposit deadline extended to October 1 (separate from option entry)

Many candidates have mixed up the option-entry deadline and the deposit deadline. KEA’s September 25 corrigendum extended the last date for caution deposit payment to October 1, 2026, citing the impact of a bank strike.

However, this extension does not extend the option-entry window. Please read this carefully: you must complete Round 3 option entry by 11 AM today (Sept 29), even though you can pay the caution deposit up to Oct 1 (as per the revised deadline).

Eligibility after the corrigendum

As per the updated Round 3 conditions reported after the corrigendum, several categories can take part. These include candidates who were not allotted any medical/dental seat in Round 1 and Round 2, and certain candidates who cancelled earlier allotments after paying the prescribed penalties. Reports also indicate that KEA has widened eligibility to include Choice-4 candidates from Round 1 and some candidates who exercised QUIT before the Round 2 final result, subject to conditions and court orders.

On the other hand, candidates who were allotted seats earlier but did not exercise the required choice options may be treated as not eligible for Round 3, as per current clarifications being reported.

Seats in the Round 3 pool

Vacancy and cancelled-seat lists going around for Round 3 show 552 MBBS seats and 423 BDS seats (975 in total), as per reported matrices. Please treat this as the reported pool from vacancy/cancelled lists, not a guarantee of final availability, because seat positions can change during allotment.

What happens next

KEA is expected to announce the Round 3 provisional/final allotment dates later, and reports suggest the KEA Round 3 result will be declared after MCC AIQ Round 3 results. For now, the immediate action is clear: submit fresh options before 11 AM today.