The NMC advertising guidelines of 6 October 2026, in plain English

Who the guidelines apply to

Rule (clause 4.1): The guidelines apply to every Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) for advertising, publicity, digital communication and promotion.

Rule (clauses 4.2 and 4.3): For doctors, they are read with the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations 2002 and the NMC Act 2019. For hospitals and medical institutions, they are read with the Clinical Establishments Act or the state Act. Where there is a conflict, the law and the operative regulations prevail.

Rule (clause 4.4): Posting through an agency, influencer, platform or other middleman does not free the doctor or hospital from responsibility for content they authorised, commissioned, sponsored, adopted or knowingly allowed.

Our reading: the doctor answers for what any agency posts in their name. Work with an agency that shows you every piece before it goes out.

What counts as advertising

Rule (clause 3.2): An advertisement is any communication, in any medium, that directly or indirectly promotes the services, reputation, skills, qualifications, achievements, facilities or commercial services of a doctor or hospital. Digital, social media, sponsored, targeted, influencer, search engine, platform, audio-visual, AI-generated and AI-assisted communication counts as advertising when its content or the way it is shared is promotional.

Rule (clause 3.2, Explanation I): Sharing information with the public in the normal course, without promotion and without intent of commercial benefit, is not advertising.

Rule (clause 3.2, Explanation II): News about equipment, technology, diagnostic facilities or services may be shared as factual information, without claims of superiority, guaranteed accuracy, guaranteed outcomes, comparisons or other unverifiable claims.

Rule (clause 3.5): The medium includes print, TV, radio, social media, websites and blogs, WhatsApp and other messaging apps, podcasts, influencer marketing, digital campaigns, sponsored posts, AI-generated promotion, public interviews, news articles meant to promote, and online healthcare platforms.

What doctors may do

Rule (clause 5.1): Doctors may take part in health awareness programmes, public health campaigns, academic discussions and educational content, as long as these do not promote their own practice, do not invite patients and are not monetised through promotional marketing.

Rule (clauses 8.2(ii) and 9.3): A doctor may make a factual, non-promotional formal announcement on: starting practice, changing the type of practice, changing address, temporary absence, resuming practice, succeeding to another practice, and a public declaration of charges.

Rule (clause 8.2(i), (iii) to (v)): Case studies published in reputed medical journals are allowed. Doctors may give public health talks on TV, radio and electronic media in their own name and designation without promoting their employer. They may give health education leaflets to patients visiting their clinic, with no guarantee of cure or claim of being better than others. They may send greetings on national days or days linked to the medical profession, without advertising.

Rule (clause 3.2, Explanations III and IV): A doctor posting on electronic media should show their name, qualifications, registration status and State or National Medical Register number. A clinical establishment posting should show the same details for the doctors it names.

Our reading: an educational reel where the doctor answers a common patient question, shows their name, qualification and registration number, and does not ask people to book, sits within clause 5.1. A reel that lists the doctor's achievements, invites bookings or runs as a paid promotion of the practice does not.

What doctors may not do

Rule (clause 8.1(i)): No content meant to create unnecessary demand for procedures or tests, and no fear-based marketing.

Rule (clause 8.1(ii)): A doctor shall not invite patients directly or indirectly, shall not promote their services through self-promotion, shall not engage a third party for marketing medical services, shall not let their name, image, voice, testimonial or endorsement be used to promote services or products, and shall not take part in campaigns that make medical practice look commercial.

Rule (clause 8.1(iii)): No advertising of personal achievements, success rates or number of patients treated, with phrases such as "Guaranteed cures", "Best doctors", "No.1 Specialist", "100% success", "painless treatment", "Miracle treatment" or "Exclusive cure", or any other unverifiable or exaggerated claim.

Rule (clause 8.1(iv)): No approval, recommendation, endorsement, certificate or statement about any drug, medicine, device, diagnostic product, health product or commercial product using the doctor's name, signature, photo, voice or status, whether paid or not.

Rule (clause 8.1(v)): No publishing cases for promotion, no advertising surgical results, no "before and after" photos, no publicising celebrity patients, and no personal success stories, unless strictly for scientific or educational purposes with anonymised patient consent.

Rule (clause 8.1(vi)): No statement that creates unrealistic expectations, misrepresents outcomes, hides risks, or promotes unproven therapies or secret remedies.

Rule (clauses 8.1(vii) and (viii)): No commission, rebate, bonus, gift, referral fee, lead-generation fee or other payment linked to the referral or procurement of patients. Agency, influencer or platform engagements must not be set up so that payment is linked to individual patients.

Rule (clause 8.1(ix)): No comparative claims such as "best", "No.1", "leading", "most trusted", "top", "number one" or "unmatched", unless the claim can be objectively verified by a transparent, independent method. Any ranking or award used must be verifiable, with the method, date and awarding body disclosed where needed.

Rule (clause 8.1(x)): No discounts, limited-period offers, contests, coupons, gifts, cashbacks, referral benefits or free procedures that are likely to encourage unnecessary consultations, tests or treatment, or that amount to inviting patients. Any lawful disclosure of charges, packages or fees must be factual, transparent and not misleading.

Rule (clause 8.1(xi)): No celebrity, influencer, patient, employee or third party may promote the doctor's services through prohibited testimonials, endorsements or recommendations. Any material commercial link in lawful public-health or informational communication must be disclosed. A third party cannot be used to do indirectly what the doctor cannot do directly.

Rule (clause 8.1(xii) and clause 3.2, Explanation V): No fake, paid or manipulated followers, likes, reviews, ratings, testimonials, comments or views, and no manipulation of search rankings, visibility or algorithms. A doctor shall not request or share patient testimonials, recommendations, endorsements or reviews for professional promotion on social media.

Our reading: the words "engage any third party for marketing medical services" in clause 8.1(ii) are the ones to discuss with your agency. Read with clauses 4.4 and 5.1, our understanding is that a doctor may take help to make educational and factual content, with the doctor approving and answering for it, but may not hire anyone to invite patients or to promote the practice in ways the doctor cannot. This is our understanding, not a legal opinion.

Patient privacy and consent

Rule (clause 6.1): Patient information, photos, videos, records, clinical images, treatment details, testimonials or anything that can identify a patient shall not be used for advertising, except where the law permits it and consent and safeguards are in place.

Rule (clause 6.2): Patient consent does not, by itself, make a prohibited practice allowed. A consented testimonial, success story or before-and-after is still not allowed.

Rule (clauses 6.3 and 6.4): Where consent is legally needed, it must be specific, informed, voluntary, documented and verifiable. Even where sharing is lawful, names, birth marks, identification marks and other identifying details must be removed, cropped, blurred or blacked out.

Rule (clause 7.4): No patient data, such as names, faces or anomalies, that can identify a patient may be shared publicly.

Rule (clause 7.6): Any use of personal data in advertising must follow the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 with its 2025 Rules.

AI-generated content

Rule (clause 7.2): An AI-generated promotional campaign for commercial interest is prohibited. Any AI-generated promotional content that otherwise follows the rules must carry a source mark saying clearly that it was made by AI.

Rule (clause 7.2(a) to (d)): AI must not be used to make misleading or unverifiable claims about diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, qualifications, patient experience or services. AI must not create or change a patient's image, testimonial, voice or outcome, or create a fake endorsement by a patient, doctor or anyone else. Where AI-made or AI-altered content could matter to how people understand it, this must be disclosed. Patient data used in an AI system must follow privacy and data protection law.

Our reading: using AI to help plan, script, subtitle or edit is not the problem. AI-made doctors, AI-made patients, AI voice copies and AI visuals shown without a label are.

Live surgery and government campaigns

Rule (clause 7.5): Live broadcast or commercial sharing of surgeries or clinical procedures is not allowed except under the NMC framework on live surgery, which covers patient safety, consent, privacy, educational purpose, sponsorship and conduct.

Rule (clause 7.3, Explanation): Campaigns on Government of India and state government programmes in the larger public interest are exempt from these guidelines.

What hospitals may say

Rule (clauses 8.3(i) and 9.1): Hospitals and medical institutions may share factual, objective and verifiable information: name, location, contact details, departments, facilities, equipment, services, emergency services, accreditation status, charges and other institutional information allowed by law. A hospital website directory of its doctors, with names, recognised qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability, serves patients and is treated as different from a paid advertisement.

Rule (clause 8.3(ii)): Hospital communication must not include inviting patients, inducements, claims of being better than others, guarantees of cure or outcome, exaggerated claims, or promotional portrayal of an individual doctor. How often or where factual information is shown must not turn it into soliciting.

Rule (clause 5.2): Hoardings and billboards in public places may carry only factual information such as infrastructure and facilities. Unverifiable claims are treated as commercial promotion and are prohibited.

Rule (clause 9.2): A doctor's photo or image must not be used for self-advertisement, inviting patients or promotional publicity. Photos on letterheads and signboards are governed by regulations 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 of the 2002 Regulations and are treated as unethical.

Rule (clause 9.4): Healthcare platforms that list doctors must follow these norms, must not run paid rankings of doctors, and must keep their listing practices transparent.

Penalties and appeals

Rule (clause 10.1): The State Medical Council acts against the doctor. The graded action that may be taken is: first violation, a warning and mandatory ethics training; second violation, censure and a money penalty; third violation, suspension of registration for 3 to 6 months; serious violations such as misleading cure claims, inducements or digital mass soliciting, suspension for 6 to 12 months; repeated violations, removal from the medical register for 1 to 3 years.

Rule (clauses 10.2 and 10.3): A penalty can be given only after a show-cause notice and a chance to explain. The council must give a written, reasoned order.

Rule (clauses 10.1 Explanation and 11.5): Hospitals and medical institutions are dealt with under the Clinical Establishments Act or the state Act. A doctor who personally approved or took part in the communication may also be examined separately.

Rule (clause 11): A doctor can appeal to the EMRB of the NMC within 60 days under section 30(3) of the NMC Act 2019, and file a second appeal under section 30(4) within 60 days of that decision.

Rule (clause 12): The NMC may issue clarifications, advisories and standard procedures under these guidelines. Check for updates before major campaigns.

A short checklist for doctors

1. Every post shows your name, qualifications, registration status and register number (clause 3.2, Explanation III).
2. The post teaches or informs. It does not ask people to book, compare you with others or list your wins (clauses 5.1, 8.1(ii), (iii) and (ix)).
3. No patient faces, names, images, stories or reviews, even with consent (clauses 6.1, 6.2, 7.4, 8.1(v) and (xi)).
4. No offers, discounts, contests or free procedures (clause 8.1(x)).
5. Nothing AI-made that looks like a real person, and a clear AI label where it matters (clause 7.2).
6. No paid promotion of your practice and no payment to anyone per patient (clauses 8.1(ii), (vii) and (viii)).
7. You, not the agency, approve every piece before it goes out (clause 4.4).

You can paste any caption or script into our free NMC content checker to see which lines need a second look.

How The Thinking Team works within these rules

We make educational and factual content for doctors, clinics and hospitals: patient-question videos, practice websites with proper doctor directories, accurate Google Business Profiles and institutional information. We do not make patient testimonials, before-and-after content, offers, per-patient payment deals or "best" and "No.1" claims, and we do not ask patients for reviews on a doctor's behalf. Every piece goes to the doctor for approval before it is published.

How we approach ethical healthcare communication · Talk to us

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