NMC Advertising Guidelines 2026: What Doctors and Hospitals Can and Cannot Do

On 6 October 2026, the Ethics & Medical Registration Board of the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued a public notice with new Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners. The notice says the guidelines come into force with immediate effect.

If you run a clinic or hospital, this affects your website, your social media, your hoardings, and any agency you pay for marketing. This post summarises what the document says, in plain English, with the clause numbers so you can check each point yourself.

This is a summary for general information, not legal advice. Read the full notice on the NMC website and consult your State Medical Council or a legal adviser before making decisions.

Who do the guidelines apply to?

• Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) — the guidelines are to be read with the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 and the NMC Act, 2019 (clause 4.2).
• Hospitals and medical institutions — the guidelines are to be read with the applicable Clinical Establishments Act or State Act, which prevails if there is a conflict (clause 4.3).

Using an agency does not shift responsibility. Publishing through a digital platform, advertising agency, influencer or other intermediary does not, by itself, absolve an RMP or institution of responsibility for content they authorised, commissioned, sponsored or knowingly permitted (clause 4.4).

What counts as an "advertisement"?

The definition is wide. It covers any communication, in any medium, that directly or indirectly solicits or promotes the professional services, reputation, skills, qualifications, achievements or facilities of an RMP or hospital (clause 3.2).

Digital, social-media, sponsored, targeted, influencer-led, search-engine, platform-based, audio-visual and AI-generated or AI-assisted communications are all treated as advertising where their content or manner of dissemination is promotional.

Two things fall outside it:

• Information given to the public in the normal course, with no promotional character and no intent for commercial benefit (Explanation I).
• Factual information about the availability of equipment, technology, diagnostic facilities or services, as long as it makes no claims of superiority, guaranteed accuracy or guaranteed outcomes (Explanation II).

What is prohibited for doctors?

Clause 8.1 lists the restrictions on RMPs. In summary, an RMP shall not:

• Advertise in a way intended to create unnecessary demand for procedures or diagnostics, or use fear-based marketing.
• Solicit patients directly or indirectly, promote their services through self-promotion, or engage a third party to market medical services.
• Use claims such as "Guaranteed cures", "Best doctors", "No.1 Specialist", "100% success", "painless treatment" or "Miracle treatment", or advertise personal achievements, success rates or number of patients treated in that manner.
• Endorse or recommend any drug, device, health product or commercial product for advertising, whether or not they are paid for it.
• Publish cases for promotion, advertise surgical results, show "before and after" photographs or publicise celebrity patients, unless strictly for scientific or educational purposes with anonymised patient consent.
• Offer or receive commissions, referral fees, lead-generation fees or similar consideration connected with procuring patients.
• Pay agencies, influencers or platforms in a way that links payment to the referral of individual patients.
• Use discounts, limited-period offers, coupons, cashbacks, referral benefits or free procedures in a way likely to encourage unnecessary consultation or treatment.
• Use celebrities, influencers, patients or employees to promote services through prohibited testimonials or endorsements.
• Procure fake followers, likes, reviews, ratings or views, or manipulate search rankings, visibility or algorithms to create a misleading impression of professional standing.

Comparative claims such as "best", "No.1", "leading", "most trusted" or "top" are barred for both RMPs and hospitals unless the claim is objectively verifiable and based on a transparent, independently ascertainable methodology. Any ranking or award used in advertising must be independently verifiable, with the methodology, date and awarding organisation disclosed where needed (clause 8.1(ix)).

What about patient reviews and testimonials?

The guidelines are strict here:

• No RMP or hospital shall solicit, purchase or publish fake, paid or misleading patient reviews, ratings or testimonials (clause 3.2, Explanation V).
• An RMP shall not request or share patient testimonials, recommendations, endorsements or reviews for professional promotion on social media.
• Patient consent does not, by itself, make a testimonial, before-and-after depiction or promotional patient story permissible if it is otherwise prohibited (clause 6.2).

What are the rules on AI-generated content?

Clause 7.2 says an AI-generated promotional campaign for furtherance of commercial interest is prohibited. Any AI-generated promotional content that does conform to the guidelines must carry a source mark explicitly stating that its origin is AI.

In addition:

• AI must not be used to create misleading or unverifiable representations about diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, qualifications or patient experiences.
• AI must not be used to create or manipulate a patient's image, voice, testimonial or clinical outcome, or a synthetic endorsement.
• Any patient information used as input to an AI system must comply with privacy, confidentiality and data-protection requirements.

What do you now have to disclose online?

• An RMP publishing electronic media posts should disclose their name, qualifications, registration status and SMR/NMR registration number (clause 3.2, Explanation III).
• A clinical establishment publishing such posts should disclose the names of its RMPs with qualifications, registration status and registration number (Explanation IV).

What is still allowed?

The guidelines do not ban communication. They protect factual and educational content.

For doctors (clause 8.2 and 9.3):

• Formal, factual announcements on starting practice, change of type of practice, change of address, temporary absence, resumption of practice, succeeding to another practice, and public declaration of charges.
• Research-based communication, such as case studies published in reputed medical journals.
• Lectures or talks on public health for awareness, in their own name and designation, without promoting their employer.
• Health education pamphlets for patients visiting the clinic, without guarantees of cure or claims of superiority.
• Greetings on days of national importance, without advertising.

Health awareness programmes and educational content are permitted provided they do not promote personal practice, do not solicit patients and are not monetised through promotional marketing (clause 5.1).

For hospitals (clause 8.3 and 9.1):

• Factual, objective and verifiable information: name, location, contact details, departments, facilities, equipment, services, emergency services, accreditation status and charges.
• A website directory of doctors with names, recognised qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability. The guidelines say this serves a patient-information function and is distinct from a paid or promotional advertisement.
• Hoardings in public spaces, only for factual information about infrastructure and facilities (clause 5.2).

Any disclosure of charges, packages or fees must be factual, transparent and not misleading.

What do the guidelines say about patient privacy?

• Patient photographs, videos, records, clinical images and other identifiable information shall not be used for advertising except where permitted by law and with the necessary consent (clause 6.1).
• Where consent is legally required, it must be specific, informed, voluntary, documented and verifiable (clause 6.3).
• Identifiable patient data such as names and faces shall not be shared publicly (clause 7.4).
• Use of digital personal data in advertising must comply with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its Rules (clause 7.6).

What are the penalties?

For RMPs, action is taken by the concerned State Medical Council. Clause 10.1 sets out graded action that "may be contemplated":

1. First violation: warning and mandatory ethics training.
2. Second violation: censure and monetary penalty.
3. Third violation: suspension of registration for 3–6 months.
4. Serious violation (misleading cure claims, inducement for patients, digital mass solicitation): suspension of 6–12 months.
5. Repeated violations: removal from the medical register for 1–3 years.

Penalties are imposed only after a show-cause notice and an opportunity to explain (clause 10.2). An RMP can appeal to the Ethics & Medical Registration Board within 60 days, with a second appeal available within a further 60 days (clause 11).

Hospitals and medical institutions are dealt with under the applicable Clinical Establishments Act or State Act.

A quick review list for your clinic

Use this as a starting point for your own review, not as a compliance certificate:

• Read your website and remove words like "best", "No.1", "leading", "100% success" and "guaranteed" unless you can support them as the guidelines require.
• Take down before-and-after photos and patient testimonials used for promotion.
• Stop asking patients for reviews to use in social media promotion.
• Add name, qualifications, registration status and registration number to your professional posts.
• Check your agency contract for any payment linked to patient referrals or leads.
• Label any AI-generated content, and stop using AI for promotional campaigns.
• Review offers, coupons and "free check-up" campaigns.
• Keep what is factual: address, timings, departments, facilities, fees and your doctors' qualifications.

A note from Doctopath

Doctopath is practice management software, not a marketing service, and we are not a regulator or a law firm. Where we can help is the part of this that concerns patient information: keeping records in one system, with access limited by staff role, rather than in registers, phones and shared spreadsheets. You can read more on our features page.

For anything about how these guidelines apply to your own practice, rely on the NMC notice itself and your State Medical Council.