On 6 October 2026, the National Medical Commission issued something it had been promising for years: a complete set of rules for how doctors and hospitals are allowed to advertise. The Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication came into force the same day. Not next year, not after a consultation period. Immediately.
If you run a clinic or practice medicine in India, your Instagram page, your Google listing, your website and your WhatsApp broadcasts are all covered by these rules today. This is a plain-language breakdown of what the notice actually says, based on the full 13-page document (No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics), not on headlines.
What is now clearly prohibited
- Patient testimonials and reviews as content. You cannot request or share patient testimonials, endorsements or reviews for promotion on social media. Reposting a happy patient’s Google review as an Instagram post is now a violation.
- Before and after photos. Banned for promotional use, and the guidelines say clearly that patient consent does not make them permissible. The only carve-out is strictly scientific or educational use with anonymised consent.
- Superlatives and success claims. “Best doctor”, “No.1 specialist”, “100% success”, “painless”, “guaranteed cure” and anything similar.
- Discounts and offers. Coupons, limited-period offers, contests, cashbacks and free procedures framed to pull patients in.
- Bought credibility. Fake or paid reviews, purchased followers, likes or views, and manipulating search rankings to look more established than you are.
- AI-generated promotion. AI-generated promotional campaigns are prohibited. Synthetic testimonials, AI-created patient images and cloned voices are explicitly banned. Where AI-altered content is used at all, its AI origin must be disclosed.
- Paying for patients. Commissions, referral fees and lead-generation fees connected to procuring patients. This includes marketing arrangements where the agency is paid per patient brought in.
What is still allowed, in writing
This is the part most coverage missed. The guidelines do not ban doctors from the internet. They draw a line between promotion and information, and they protect the information side explicitly.
- Educational content is exempt. The definition of advertisement excludes information shared with the public without promotional intent. Clause 8.2(iii) goes further: doctors may deliver talks on public health and diseases through television, radio and electronic media, in their own name and designation.
- Factual clinic information is permitted. A clinic may publish its name, location, contact details, departments, facilities, equipment, services, accreditation and charges. A website directory of doctors with their qualifications and registration details is expressly described as different from advertising.
- Formal announcements remain fine. Starting a practice, changing address, declaring consultation fees.
The new obligation almost nobody is talking about
Every electronic media post now needs disclosure. The doctor’s name, qualifications, registration status and State or National Medical Register number should appear transparently on electronic media posts, and clinics publishing posts must disclose the same details for their doctors. If your reels and posts do not carry this today, that is the first thing to fix.
Your agency does not protect you
Clause 4.4 deserves to be read twice: publication through a digital platform, advertising agency, influencer or intermediary does not absolve the doctor or institution of responsibility for content they authorised. If a marketing agency posts something non-compliant on your page, the show-cause notice comes to you, not to them. Choosing who runs your content is now a licensing decision, not just a marketing one.
What happens if you ignore this
| Violation | Consequence |
|---|---|
| First | Warning and mandatory ethics training |
| Second | Censure and monetary penalty |
| Third | Registration suspended 3 to 6 months |
| Serious (misleading cure claims, inducement, mass digital solicitation) | Suspension 6 to 12 months |
| Repeated | Removal from the register for 1 to 3 years |
What to do this week
- Audit your profiles. Delete testimonial posts, before and after images, any “best in Bangalore” language, and any offer or discount posts.
- Add the disclosure block to your bio and your post template: name, qualifications, registration number.
- Check your agency arrangement. If any part of your marketing fee is tied to patient numbers, restructure it. If your agency uses AI-generated promotional creatives or buys engagement, stop.
- Keep publishing. Educational content in your own name is explicitly protected. The doctors who keep teaching, compliantly, will own the attention everyone else just vacated.
That last point is the real story. These rules did not end doctor marketing. They ended lazy doctor marketing. Education survived, and education was always the version patients actually trust.
This article summarises the NMC public notice dated 06/10/2026 for general information. It is not legal advice. Read the full notice on nmc.org.in and consult your advisor for specific situations.