Last updated: 10 October 2026 · Reading time: 12 minutes · By Dhruv Thakkar, Founder, Namastory

On 6 October 2026, the National Medical Commission (NMC) published its Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners. They came into force with immediate effect.

If you are a doctor with an Instagram page, a hospital running Google ads, or a clinic with patient videos on YouTube, this is the most important document you will read this year. It covers social media, websites, AI-generated content, influencers, reviews, discounts, hoardings and even the way hospitals present their doctors.

We work with 50+ hospitals and doctors, so we have read the guidelines closely. This guide explains, in plain language, what has changed, what is now prohibited, what is still allowed, and how to keep marketing your practice without putting your registration at risk.

What are the new NMC advertising guidelines?

The guidelines were issued by the NMC’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) through a public notice dated 6 October 2026, signed by NMC Secretary Dr. Raghav Langer. They were framed in the context of a writ petition before the Supreme Court of India (W.P. (C) No. 1160/2023) and build on:

• The National Medical Commission Act, 2019
• The Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, especially Regulations 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 on advertising
• The Information Technology Act, 2000
• The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its 2025 Rules
• State Clinical Establishment Acts and Rules, which continue to govern hospitals

The stated aims are to preserve the dignity of the profession, prevent the commercialisation of healthcare, protect patients from misleading claims, safeguard privacy and autonomy, and bring digital promotion under the same ethical standards as everything else.

Who do the guidelines apply to?

• Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs): every doctor registered in India, for all advertising, publicity, digital communication and promotion.
• Hospitals and medical institutions: read together with the applicable state Clinical Establishment Act.
• Healthcare platforms that list doctors: they must follow the same norms, including the ban on paid doctor rankings.

The most important line for anyone who works with a marketing agency: a doctor remains responsible for content they authorised, commissioned, sponsored or knowingly allowed, even if an agency, influencer or platform actually posted it. “My agency did it” is not a defence.

What is now prohibited: the complete list

1. Patient testimonials and success stories

Patient testimonials, endorsements, case publicity, surgical-result advertising, celebrity-patient publicity and personal success stories cannot be used to promote a doctor or hospital. This includes video testimonials on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, and feedback sections on websites.

Crucially, consent does not make a prohibited practice acceptable. A signed consent form allows nothing that the guidelines otherwise ban. The only exception is genuinely scientific or educational use, with the patient anonymised and consent documented.

2. Before-and-after photos

Before-and-after images used to advertise results are prohibited. This hits dermatology, cosmetic surgery, dentistry, hair transplant and bariatric practices hardest, where such images have been the backbone of marketing.

3. Superlatives and guarantees

Claims like “Best doctor in Ahmedabad”, “No. 1 cardiologist”, “Most trusted hospital”, “Guaranteed cure” and “100% success rate” are prohibited. Comparative words such as “best”, “leading”, “No. 1” and “most trusted” are allowed only when they are objectively verifiable, with the methodology and award details disclosed where needed. Unverifiable claims about success rates, patient volumes or personal achievements are out.

4. Fear-based and demand-creating marketing

Advertising designed to create unnecessary demand for procedures or diagnostic tests, or to scare people into them, is prohibited. So are statements that create unrealistic expectations, hide risks or promote unproven therapies.

5. AI-generated promotion

This is the first time Indian medical regulation addresses AI directly:

• AI-generated promotional campaigns that further commercial interests are prohibited.
• AI cannot be used to create or manipulate patient images, testimonials, voices or clinical outcomes, or to produce synthetic endorsements of a patient, doctor or hospital.
• Any AI-generated or AI-assisted content that is otherwise permitted must carry a clear label saying so.
• Material AI alterations that could change how the audience understands the content must be disclosed.
• Using patient data as input to AI tools must meet privacy, confidentiality and consent requirements.
• Government public-health campaigns using AI are exempt.

6. Fake engagement and ranking manipulation

Buying followers, likes, reviews, ratings or testimonials is prohibited, as is manipulating search rankings, app rankings or platform algorithms. Paid “top doctor” rankings on healthcare platforms are banned. Asking patients for genuine reviews is not explicitly addressed, but incentivising or scripting them would fall foul of the ban on paid or manipulated reviews.

7. Per-patient payments, commissions and influencer deals

• No commissions, referral fees or lead-generation payments tied to patient or specimen referrals.
• Contracts with agencies, influencers or platforms must not pay per patient referred.
• No using celebrities, influencers, patients or employees for prohibited endorsements, and no using third parties to do indirectly what is banned directly.

Paying a marketing agency for its services remains fine. Paying it a fee for every patient who walks in does not.

8. Discounts, coupons and freebies

Limited-time discounts, coupons, gift packages, free procedures or referral benefits that encourage unnecessary consultations or treatment are prohibited. Fee information can be shared, but it must be factual and not misleading.

9. Product endorsements

Doctors cannot endorse drugs, devices or products using their name, photograph or professional status, whether paid or unpaid.

10. Self-promotion and solicitation

Direct or indirect solicitation of patients and personal self-promotion remain prohibited, as they have been since the 2002 Regulations. Using a doctor’s own photograph on letterheads or signboards is also treated as unethical conduct.

What is still allowed

The guidelines do not ban doctors from the internet. They ban communication that becomes promotional or misleading. Here is what remains clearly permitted for doctors:

• Health education: awareness content, public health campaigns and educational posts, as long as they do not promote the doctor’s personal practice, solicit patients or get monetised through promotional marketing.
• Formal announcements: starting a practice, changing its type or address, temporary absence, resuming practice, succeeding to a practice, and declaring consultation charges.
• Public lectures and media appearances on health topics in the doctor’s own name, without promoting an employer.
• Clinic pamphlets on health education, without cure guarantees, superiority claims or misleading information.
• Greetings on national days and medical-profession days, without professional promotion.
• Research and case studies published in reputed medical journals.

Electronic posts by doctors should disclose the doctor’s name, qualifications, registration status and registration number.

What hospitals can publish

Hospitals and medical institutions may publish factual, verifiable information: name, location, contact details, departments, facilities, equipment, emergency services, accreditation and charges. A website directory listing doctors with their qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability is treated as patient information, not promotion.

Hospitals must not use patient solicitation, inducements, superiority claims, cure guarantees or the promotional portrayal of individual doctors. Hoardings in public spaces may carry only factual infrastructure information.

Penalties: what happens if you break the rules

For doctors, enforcement sits with the respective State Medical Council. Hospitals are dealt with under the applicable Clinical Establishment Act or state law. The penalties are graded:

Violation	Penalty
First violation	Warning and mandatory ethics training
Second violation	Censure and monetary penalty
Third violation	Suspension of registration for 3 to 6 months
Serious violation (e.g. misleading cure claims, inducements, digital mass solicitation)	Suspension for 6 to 12 months
Repeated violations	Removal from the medical register for 1 to 3 years

Before any penalty, the State Medical Council must issue a show-cause notice, give the doctor a chance to respond, and pass a reasoned order. A doctor can file a first appeal to the NMC’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board within 60 days (Section 30(3) of the NMC Act), and a second appeal within 60 days of that decision (Section 30(4)).

What this means for your social media, platform by platform

Instagram and Facebook

• Remove or archive patient testimonial reels and before-and-after posts used for promotion.
• Rewrite bios and captions that say “best”, “No. 1” or “guaranteed”.
• Keep the educational reels: symptoms, myths, prevention, when to see a specialist.
• Add your full name, qualifications and registration number to your profile.
• Drop “limited-time offer” and discount campaigns.

YouTube and podcasts

• Long-form educational content is the safest and most valuable format under the new rules.
• Avoid patient-story episodes that work as endorsements. Conversations between doctors about medicine and their own journeys remain educational.
• Label any AI-generated visuals, voice-overs or thumbnails.

Google Business Profile and reviews

• Never buy, script or incentivise reviews.
• Keep your listing factual: services, timings, location, facilities.
• Reply to reviews professionally, without revealing any patient information.

Websites

• Remove patient testimonial sections and before-and-after galleries.
• Keep doctor profiles factual: qualifications, specialty, registration number, availability.
• Back every claim (awards, accreditations, numbers) with verifiable evidence.
• Review your privacy policy against the DPDP Act, 2023.

Google and Meta ads

• Paid advertising for hospitals is not banned outright, but ad copy must follow every rule above: no superlatives, no guarantees, no discounts that push unnecessary care, no testimonials.
• Check that your agency contract is not structured as a per-patient or per-lead payment.

Your 10-point compliance checklist

1. Audit every post, reel, video and web page from the last 12 months.
2. Remove promotional patient testimonials, success stories and before-and-after images.
3. Replace “best”, “No. 1”, “guaranteed” and “100%” with verifiable, factual language.
4. Add name, qualifications and registration number to all digital profiles.
5. Label all AI-generated or AI-assisted content. Never use AI to create patients, voices or outcomes.
6. Stop any discount, coupon, freebie or referral-benefit campaign.
7. Review agency, influencer and platform contracts for per-patient or per-lead payments.
8. Make sure no followers, likes or reviews are bought, and no rankings are paid for.
9. Check that consent records for any patient material are specific, documented and verifiable, and that patients cannot be identified.
10. Put a simple approval step in place, so nothing goes live without someone checking it against the guidelines.

The opportunity hidden in the rulebook

It is easy to read these guidelines as a list of things you can no longer do. We read them differently.

For years, healthcare marketing in India has been a race to the loudest claim. Every clinic was “the best”, every result was “guaranteed”, and patients learned to tune it all out. The new rules take the shortcuts away from everyone at once. What remains is the thing that always worked: a doctor explaining something clearly, consistently and honestly.

The doctors who will grow under these rules are the ones who become the most trusted voice on their subject, through education, not endorsement. That is slower to build and much harder to copy.

That is the approach behind MedStories, our podcast about doctors’ journeys rather than diseases, and behind the way we run doctor personal branding and healthcare social media for our clients.

Frequently asked questions

When did the new NMC advertising guidelines come into force?

They were issued through an NMC public notice dated 6 October 2026 and came into force with immediate effect.

Can doctors still post on Instagram and YouTube?

Yes. Educational, factual, non-promotional health content is allowed. What is prohibited is content that promotes the doctor’s practice, solicits patients or misleads, such as testimonials, superlatives and guarantees.

Can I share a patient testimonial if the patient gives written consent?

No, not for promotion. The guidelines state that consent alone does not make a prohibited practice acceptable. Anonymised use with documented consent is allowed only for scientific or educational purposes.

Are before-and-after photos banned?

Yes, when used to advertise results. They may be used only for scientific or educational purposes, anonymised and with consent.

Can I use AI to create content for my clinic?

AI-generated promotional campaigns for commercial interests are prohibited, and AI can never be used to create synthetic patients, testimonials, voices or outcomes. Where AI-generated or AI-assisted content is otherwise permitted, it must be clearly labelled.

Can hospitals still run Google and Meta ads?

The guidelines do not ban paid advertising outright for hospitals, but every ad must be factual and verifiable, with no superlatives, guarantees, testimonials, inducements or discounts that encourage unnecessary care.

Am I responsible for what my marketing agency posts?

Yes. A doctor remains responsible for content they authorised, commissioned, sponsored or knowingly permitted, even if an agency, influencer or platform published it.

What is the penalty for violating the guidelines?

Penalties are graded: a warning and ethics training for a first violation, up to suspension or removal from the medical register for 1 to 3 years for repeated violations. Serious violations can bring suspension of 6 to 12 months.

Do these rules apply to doctors outside India?

The guidelines apply to doctors registered with the NMC and State Medical Councils, and to hospitals in India. Doctors practising abroad follow their own country’s regulator, such as AHPRA in Australia or the GMC in the UK, many of which have similar restrictions on testimonials and misleading claims.

Disclaimer: This article summarises the NMC public notice dated 6 October 2026 as reported publicly at the time of writing. It is for general information only and is not legal advice. Always refer to the official text on the National Medical Commission website and consult your State Medical Council or a legal professional for decisions about your practice.

Sources: NMC public notice dated 6 October 2026; reporting by Medical Dialogues, MediaNama, ThePrint and The South First.