The Union Health Ministry on Friday said that it has decided to limit the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) attempts to three, with the NEET-2017 to be counted as the first attempt.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be conducting NEET (Under Graduate) on May 7, 2017. The upper age limit shall also be limited to 25 years with 5 years relaxation for reserved categories.

"It was decided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in consultation with Medical Council of India that there shall be an upper age limit of 25 years as on the date of exam with 5 years relaxation for reserved categories and a maximum of 3 attempts for all candidates," said a statement from the ministry.

According to the ministry, in the information bulletin published by the CBSE on its website, it was mentioned that the candidates who have already appeared in All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT)/NEET on three occasions are not allowed to take this examination.

"It is now clarified that since any new regulation takes effect prospectively, NEET-2017 shall be counted as the first attempt for this purpose irrespective of the previous attempts in AIPMT/NEET, subject to the upper age limit," said the statement.

"The CBSE has been advised to make necessary corrections in the information bulletin and on their website cbseneet.nic.in so that any application is not rejected on this ground. Data pertaining to applications already rejected will be erased so that rejected applications can be filed afresh," added the statement.

Meanwhile, the CBSE also clarified that appearance by candidates in the AIPMT/NEET prior to 2017 will not be taken into account and as such NEET-2017 will be counted as their first attempt.

"The Department of Health and Family Welfare on February 3 has communicated that the Medical Council of India (MCI) has clarified that the attempts made by candidates for AIPMT/NEET prior to 2017 should not be counted," the CBSE said in a statement.