It covers every Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) and every hospital or clinic in India, in every medium, offline and online. This also covers agencies, influencers and platforms that publish on their behalf. Here is what it says, clause by clause, and what to change on your website, blog and social handles today (Source)

Who and what is covered

Cl. across the content means the clause it is referencing on the lastest NMC guidelines dated 06 October 2026.

Any communication that directly or indirectly promotes a doctor’s or hospital’s services, reputation, skills, qualifications, achievements or facilities counts as an advertisement (cl. 3.2). That includes AI-generated and AI-assisted content.

Media covered (cl. 3.5): print, TV, radio, websites, blogs, social media, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, podcasts, influencer marketing, sponsored posts, digital campaigns, search ads, AI-generated promotion, public interviews, news articles placed for promotion, and online healthcare platforms.

Who is bound:

• Every RMP on the National Medical Register or a State Medical Register.
• Every hospital and clinical establishment, in any recognised system of medicine.
• Indirectly, every agency, influencer and platform. Publishing through a third party does not absolve the doctor or hospital of content they authorised, commissioned, sponsored or knowingly permitted (cl. 4.4).

Exempt:

• Genuinely informational content with no promotional character or commercial intent (cl. 3.2, Expl. I).
• Government of India and State Government public-health campaigns (cl. 7.3, Expl.).

Hierarchy: For doctors, the guidelines are read with the NMC Act 2019 and the IMC (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations 2002. For hospitals, they are read with the applicable Clinical Establishments Act. Where they conflict, the Act and Regulations prevail (cl. 4.2, 4.3).

What doctors can no longer do (cl. 8.1)

Clause 8.1 lists twelve prohibitions for RMPs. They are:

1. Fear-based marketing. No content that creates demand for unnecessary procedures or diagnostics, or that scares patients into booking.
2. Solicitation and self-promotion. No soliciting patients directly or indirectly, and no hiring a third party to market your services. You may not let your name, image, voice, testimonial or endorsement promote services or products.
3. Unverifiable achievement claims. No advertising personal achievements, success rates or patient numbers. Phrases the notice names: “Guaranteed cures”, “Best doctors”, “No.1 Specialist”, “100% success”, “painless treatment”, “Miracle treatment”, “Exclusive cure”.
4. Product endorsements. No endorsing any drug, remedy, device, diagnostic, health or commercial product with your name, signature, photo, voice or professional status, whether paid or unpaid.
5. Patient showcases. No promotional case posts, advertised surgical results, before-and-after photos, celebrity patients or personal success stories. The only exception is strictly scientific or educational use with anonymised patient consent.
6. Misleading outcomes. No unrealistic expectations, misrepresented outcomes, concealed risks, unproven therapies or “secret” remedies.
7. Kickbacks. No commissions, rebates, bonuses, gifts, referral fees or lead-generation fees tied to patients, specimens or materials.
8. Pay-per-patient agency deals. Agency, influencer or platform fees must not be linked to the procurement or referral of individual patients.
9. Superlatives. No “best”, “No.1”, “leading”, “most trusted”, “top”, “number one” or “unmatched” unless objectively verifiable through a transparent, independent methodology. Any ranking or award you cite must disclose the awarding body, methodology, conditions and date.
10. Inducements. No discounts, limited-period offers, contests, coupons, gifts, cashbacks, referral benefits or free procedures that push unnecessary care. You may still publish fees and packages factually.
11. Endorsers and proxies. No celebrities, influencers, patients or employees giving testimonials or endorsements. Commercial relationships in informational content must be disclosed. You may not use an intermediary to do what you cannot do yourself.
12. Fake engagement. No buying or manipulating followers, likes, reviews, ratings, comments, views or engagement. No manipulating search rankings or algorithms to inflate professional standing.

Clause 3.2 (Expl. V) adds a separate rule: no RMP may request or share patient testimonials, reviews or recommendations on social media for promotion. Patient consent does not cure this (cl. 6.2).

What hospitals and clinics can and cannot advertise (cl. 8.3, 9.1, 5.2)

Hospitals get more room than individual doctors, but only for factual, objective, verifiable information.

Doctor directories (cl. 9.1). A website directory that lists doctors’ names, recognised qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability is a patient-information function. It is not treated as advertising. A “Meet our star surgeon” campaign is.

Doctor photographs (cl. 9.2). A doctor’s photo may not be used where it amounts to self-advertisement, solicitation or promotional publicity. Photos on letterheads and signboards stay governed by Regulations 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 of the IMC Regulations 2002.

New equipment (cl. 3.2, Expl. II). You may announce that a machine or facility is installed or available. You may not claim it is superior, guarantees accuracy or outcome, or beats a competitor’s. “3 Tesla MRI now available” is fine. “Most advanced MRI in the city” is not.

Hoardings and billboards (cl. 5.2). On municipal, transport, railway and airport hoardings, hospitals and RMPs may show only factual information on infrastructure and facilities. Any unverifiable claim makes the hoarding commercial and prohibited.

AI-generated content (cl. 7.2)

AI-generated promotional campaigns for commercial interest are prohibited. Any AI-generated promotional content that otherwise complies must carry a source mark that states plainly it was made by AI.

The four specific rules:

• No misleading AI claims about diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, qualifications, patient experiences or services.
• No synthetic patients or endorsements. AI may not create or alter a patient’s image, voice, testimonial or clinical outcome. It may not produce endorsements that appear to come from a real patient, doctor or anyone else.
• Disclose AI where content is AI-generated or materially AI-altered and that matters to the audience’s understanding.
• Protect patient data used as AI input, in line with privacy, confidentiality and data-protection law.

For agencies, this rules out AI avatar doctors, AI-voiced patient stories and synthetic “patient” reels. AI-drafted blog copy that a doctor reviews, and that makes no prohibited claims, is not banned outright. If the copy is promotional, label it.

Patient privacy and consent (cl. 6, 7.4–7.6)

Patient names, faces, photos, videos, records, clinical images, treatment details and testimonials may not be used in advertising unless the law permits it, with consent and safeguards (cl. 6.1).

• Consent must be specific, informed, voluntary, documented and verifiable where the law requires it (cl. 6.3).
• Consent does not make a prohibited practice legal. A signed consent form does not save a testimonial, before-and-after, promotional patient story or success claim (cl. 6.2).
• Minimise even lawful disclosures. Avoid names. Crop, blur or black out birthmarks, identification marks and anything else that identifies the patient (cl. 6.4).
• No publicly identifiable patient data, such as names, faces or anomalies (cl. 7.4).
• Live surgery broadcasts must follow NMC’s separate live-surgery guidelines on consent, privacy, educational purpose and sponsorship (cl. 7.5).
• Digital personal data used in advertising must comply with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its 2025 Rules (cl. 7.6). That covers patient lists for retargeting, WhatsApp broadcast lists and CRM uploads to ad platforms.

Mandatory disclosures

Five things must now appear wherever they apply:

In practice, every blog post published under a doctor’s name now needs an author box like this:

Medically reviewed by Dr. A. Sharma, MBBS, MD (Cardiology), DM (Cardiology). Registered with Maharashtra Medical Council, Reg. No. XXXXX.

What doctors are still allowed to do (cl. 5.1, 8.2, 9.3)

The guidelines do not silence doctors. These are expressly permitted:

• Public health education. Awareness programmes, campaigns, academic discussions and educational content, provided they do not promote your practice, solicit patients or get monetised through promotional marketing (cl. 5.1).
• Research communication. Case studies published in reputed medical journals (cl. 8.2 i).
• Formal announcements, stated factually: starting practice, change in type of practice, change of address, temporary absence, resuming practice, succeeding to another practice, and public declaration of fees (cl. 8.2 ii, 9.3).
• Talks on TV, radio and electronic media about public health and diseases, in your own name and designation, without promoting your employer (cl. 8.2 iii).
• Patient-education pamphlets for patients visiting your clinic, with no guarantees, superiority claims or unsubstantiated statements (cl. 8.2 iv).
• Greetings on national days and medical-profession days, without advertising professional gains (cl. 8.2 v).

The test for a blog is simple. If it explains a condition and stops there, it is education. If it ends with “Book now with Dr X, Pune’s top cardiologist”, it is advertising, and every rule above applies.

Penalties and appeals (cl. 10, 11)

The State Medical Council acts against a doctor. The graded action it may contemplate:

Due process. No penalty without a show-cause notice and a chance to respond (cl. 10.2). The SMC must issue a reasoned, speaking order that addresses the doctor’s contentions (cl. 10.3).

Appeals. First appeal to the Ethics & Medical Registration Board, NMC, within 60 days under section 30(3) of the NMC Act, 2019. Second appeal under section 30(4) within 60 days of that decision (cl. 11).

Hospitals are penalised under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 or the applicable State Act. A doctor who authorised, took part in or endorsed the hospital’s prohibited content can also be proceeded against separately (cl. 11.5).

Rewrite your copy: before and after

Official sources

• National Medical Commission: What’s New: notices, including Public Notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics dated 06.10.2026
• Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, NMC
• The National Medical Commission Act, 2019, India Code
• The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010, India Code
• Clinical Establishments portal downloads, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
• The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, India Code
• The Information Technology Act, 2000, India Code

This article summarises the NMC notice for general information and is not legal advice. Where the guidelines conflict with the NMC Act, the IMC Regulations or the Clinical Establishments Act, those laws prevail. Seek legal advice on borderline cases.

Content for this Article was reviewed and proofread by multiple doctors and the content team working at Healthus.ai

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