On 6 October 2026, the NMC issued new rules for doctor and hospital ads. The notice number is R-13014/01/2024-Ethics. The rules took effect immediately.
They cover social media, websites, ads, influencers and even AI content. If you run a practice or a hospital, this affects you.
This guide explains every part in plain words.
Why NMC made these rules
The rules follow a Supreme Court case (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1160/2023). NMC says it wants to:
- Protect the dignity of the medical profession
- Stop the commercialisation of healthcare
- Protect patients from misleading claims
- Keep health communication factual and based on evidence
- Make hospital ads follow the same standards as doctors
- Treat all systems of medicine fairly
Who must follow them
- Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs): Doctors listed in the National or State Medical Register.
- Hospitals and clinics: Places covered by the Clinical Establishments Act or state laws.
If these guidelines clash with the NMC Act, the IMC Ethics Regulations 2002 or a state law, the law wins.
What counts as an advertisement
The definition is wide. It covers messages that promote a doctor or hospital, their skills, or their services.
It includes:
- Social media posts, websites and blogs
- WhatsApp and Telegram messages
- Sponsored and targeted ads
- Influencer posts
- Search engine ads
- Podcasts and interviews meant to promote
- AI-generated or AI-assisted promotion
Plain information given to the public is not an ad. It must not be promotional and must not be meant for commercial gain.
You may share facts about equipment or diagnostic services. But you can’t claim you’re better, that you’re more accurate, or that outcomes are guaranteed.
You can’t hide behind your agency
This one matters. If an agency, influencer or platform posts for you, you’re still responsible. That applies to anything you authorised, ordered, paid for, adopted or knowingly allowed.
What you must show on every post
On any online post:
- Doctors: Show your name, qualifications, registration status and SMR/NMR number.
- Clinics and hospitals: List each doctor’s name and qualifications. Include their registration status and SMR/NMR number.
What you can’t do
1. Create fear or demand
Don’t run ads that create unnecessary demand for procedures or tests. Don’t use fear-based marketing.
2. Ask for patients
Don’t ask for patients directly or indirectly. Do not let others use your name, photo, voice, or review to promote services or products. Don’t join campaigns that make medicine look like a business.
3. Make big claims
Don’t claim:
- “Guaranteed cure”
- “Best doctor”
- “No.1 specialist”
- “100% success”
- “Painless treatment”
- “Miracle treatment”
- “Exclusive cure”
Don’t advertise success rates or the number of patients you’ve treated. Don’t advertise personal achievements.
4. Endorse products
Do not promote drugs or medical devices in ads. Do not endorse health or other products. This holds whether or not you’re paid.
5. Show results
Don’t publish cases for promotion. Do not show surgery results or before-and-after photos. Do not feature celebrity patients or personal success stories.
You can use this content for science or education. Get the patient’s consent and remove details that could identify them.
6. Raise false hopes
Don’t make statements that create unrealistic expectations, hide risks, or promote unproven treatments.
7. Pay or take referral fees
Do not offer or accept payments, gifts, or fees for patient referrals. This includes commissions, rebates, and lead fees.
8. Pay agencies per patient
Do not pay an ad agency, influencer, or online platform for each patient they bring you. Their fees must not depend on patient referrals.
9. Use “best” and “top” without proof
Words like “best”, “No.1”, “leading”, “most trusted”, “top” and “unmatched” are banned. You can make claims that others can verify. Use a clear method and allow others to check the results independently.
If you use a ranking or award, it must be verifiable. Show the method, the date and who gave it, where needed.
10. Push offers
Do not use discounts, contests, gifts, or free treatments to attract patients. Avoid offers that lead people to seek unneeded tests or treatment. If you share fees or packages, keep them factual and clear.
11. Use others to do it for you
Do not use celebrities, influencers, patients, or staff to promote your services. Do not use reviews or endorsements from others either. Any real commercial link in a health awareness post must be disclosed. Don’t use a middleman to do what you can’t do yourself.
12. Fake your popularity
Don’t buy or fake followers, likes, reviews, ratings, comments or views. Don’t manipulate search rankings or algorithms to look more reputable.
13. Fake or buy reviews
Don’t buy, ask for or fake patient reviews, ratings or testimonials. Doctors also shouldn’t ask for or share patient testimonials on social media.
AI rules
- AI-generated promotional campaigns for commercial gain are prohibited.
- Add a clear AI-generated label to all promotional content made with AI that follows the rules.
- Do not use AI to make false claims about diagnoses or treatments. Do not mislead people about results, qualifications, or services.
- Don’t use AI to create or change a patient’s image, voice, testimonial or result.
- Don’t use AI to fake an endorsement from a real patient, doctor or other person.
- If the AI nature of content matters to the viewer, disclose it.
- If you feed patient data into an AI tool, follow privacy and data protection law.
Patient privacy
- Do not use patient details, photos, videos, or medical records in ads. Only use them if the law allows it and you have the patient’s consent.
- Consent alone doesn’t make a banned practice allowed. A testimonial or before and after photo stays banned even with consent.
- Where consent is needed, it must be specific, informed, voluntary, documented and verifiable.
- Even when sharing is allowed, hide names. Crop, blur or black out birthmarks and anything that could identify the patient.
- Don’t share data such as names, faces or anomalies that people can identify.
- Follow the IT Act 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and its 2025 Rules.
Live surgery broadcasts
You can’t broadcast surgeries for commercial reasons. Live surgery broadcasts must follow the NMC’s separate rules. These cover patient safety, consent, privacy, education, sponsorship, and conduct.
What you can do
For doctors
- Join health awareness programmes, public health campaigns and educational talks. The content must not promote your practice or attract patients. It must not be used to make money through ads.
- Share research-based work, such as case studies published in reputed medical journals.
- Make a formal announcement when you:
- Start practice
- Change the type of practice
- Change your address
- Take a temporary break
- Resume practice
- Take over another practice
- Declare your fees
- Give talks on TV, radio and electronic media on public health. Use your own name and designation. Don’t promote your employer.
- Give health education pamphlets to patients who visit your clinic. No guarantees, no claims that you’re better than others.
- Post greetings on national days or medical days. No promotion of your professional gains.
For hospitals
You can share factual, checkable details such as:
- Name, location and contact details
- Departments, facilities and equipment
- Services and emergency services
- Accreditation status
- Charges, where the law allows
A hospital website’s doctor directory is fine. It can list names, qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability. It counts as patient information, not an ad.
Hospitals must not use messages to attract patients with offers. They must not claim to be the best, guarantee results, or make false or exaggerated claims. It must not promote one doctor.
Other allowed things
- Hoardings and billboards: Only for facts about infrastructure and facilities. Claims that can’t be verified are banned.
- Government campaigns: Public awareness campaigns about government schemes are exempt from these rules.
- Doctor photos: Do not use a doctor’s photo to promote their practice or attract patients. Letterhead and signboard photos fall under IMC Regulations 6.1.1 and 6.1.2.
- Healthcare platforms: Platforms that list doctors must follow NMC rules. They must not rank doctors based on payment. Their listings must be clear and honest.
Can I publish case studies?
Short answer: only in a narrow way.
The notice bans publishing cases for promotion. It also bans surgery results, before-and-after photos, and personal success stories. Patient consent doesn’t change this.
There are two exceptions:
- Journal cases: Case studies published in a reputed medical journal are allowed.
- Scientific or educational cases: You can share cases for science or education. Get the patient’s consent and remove details that could identify them.
How to do it the safer way
- Write in clinical language. Cover the presentation, tests, diagnosis, management, follow-up, complications and learning points.
- Remove details that could identify the patient. These include age, location, dates, photos, and rare features.
- Get consent that is specific, informed, voluntary and documented.
- Include complications and limits, not only good outcomes.
- Don’t use result headlines, success claims or outcome numbers.
Where to publish it
- Prefer a journal. Then share the citation, not a rewritten story.
- On your website, create a separate Clinical Notes section for medical professionals.
- Don’t link cases from treatment pages. A case study on a service page may look like proof of results. This goes against its educational purpose.
- Don’t add a booking button, offer or sales pitch near it.
- Don’t use cases in ads, social posts or Google Business posts.
A note of caution
The notice doesn’t define the line between educational and promotional very clearly. A case on a doctor’s own website may still be judged by how it looks and why it was posted. Ask your lawyer before you publish, and wait for NMC clarifications.
What happens if you break the rules
The State Medical Council (SMC) can take action against a doctor. The notice says these steps may be contemplated:
| Violation | Possible action |
| First | Warning and mandatory ethics training |
| Second | Censure and a fine |
| Third | Registration suspended for 3 to 6 months |
| Serious (misleading cure claims, inducing patients, mass digital solicitation) | Suspension for 6 to 12 months |
| Repeated | Removal from the medical register for 1 to 3 years |
Your rights:
- You must get a show-cause notice and a chance to explain before any penalty.
- The SMC must give a reasoned order that states the violation, your arguments and why it decided as it did.
- You can appeal to NMC’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) within 60 days.
- You can file a second appeal within 60 days of that decision.
Hospitals face penalties under the Clinical Establishments Act or the relevant state law. A doctor may face a separate review if they approved or took part in a banned post.
NMC can also issue further clarifications and instructions later.
Points that still need clarity
Some parts of the notice are unclear. Two examples:
- One clause says doctors must not engage a third party to market their services. Another clause only bans paying agencies per patient. Both sit in the same list.
- The AI rule bans promotional campaigns that use AI to make money. It also says allowed AI content must carry a clear label.
Watch for NMC clarifications on these. Until then, the safer choice is the stricter reading.
What doctors should do now
- Check your website and social media pages. Remove before-and-after photos, testimonials, claims that you are the best, and special offers.
- Add your name, qualifications and SMR/NMR number to your posts.
- Remove any review request or patient testimonial.
- Review your agreement with any marketing agency. Payment must not depend on patient numbers.
- Add an AI label to any AI-made content, and stop using AI for patient images or testimonials.
- Keep your content educational, factual and free of promises.
- Keep case studies in a separate section for education. Do not place them on treatment pages or in ads.
FAQs
When did the NMC advertising guidelines come into force?
They took effect immediately after NMC issued the notice on 6 October 2026.
Can I still post on Instagram or YouTube?
Yes. Post educational, factual content. Don’t promote yourself, ask for patients, or show results.
Can I post patient reviews or testimonials?
No. You can’t ask for, share or buy them. Patient consent doesn’t change this.
Can I publish patient case studies on my website?
Use it only for science or education. Get the patient’s consent and remove all identifying details. Use medical terms and avoid promotion. Journal-published cases are the safest. Don’t link cases from treatment pages, and don’t use them in ads or social posts.
Can I hire a digital marketing agency?
The notice isn’t fully clear. One clause bars engaging a third party to market your services. Another only bars linking payment to patient referrals. Wait for NMC clarification, and don’t pay per patient or per lead.
What is the penalty for breaking the rules?
It starts with a warning and ethics training. Repeated or serious violations can lead to suspension. A doctor may also be removed from the register for up to three years.
Staying compliant doesn’t mean staying invisible. Doctors can still build trust with honest, educational content. Want to check if your website and social media follow these rules? Contact us through our contact page. We’ll help you review them. This post is for general information, not legal advice. Read the official notice at nmc.org.in and consult a lawyer if you have specific questions.
