Hospital advertising rules in India: what hospitals and doctors can and cannot say

On 6 October 2026, the NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board issued a public notice with the Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners, in force with immediate effect. They were framed in view of a Supreme Court case, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1160 of 2023, and the 2002 professional-conduct regulations. One stated aim is to align hospital advertising with the standards that already apply to doctors.

The guidelines do not replace the 2002 regulations: for doctors they are read with those regulations and the NMC Act 2019, and they say they do not override any existing statutory or regulatory requirement. They were issued as guidelines by public notice, not as new regulations, and how they will be enforced, especially against hospitals, may take time to settle. Treat what follows as a summary of the published text, not a settled legal position.

Who they apply to and what counts as advertising

• Doctors: registered medical practitioners on the National or a State Medical Register, for all advertising, publicity and digital communication.
• Hospitals and medical institutions: clinical establishments "in any recognised system of medicine". For them, the guidelines are read with the applicable Clinical Establishments Act or state Act, which prevails in a conflict. In Kerala that is likely to be the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act 2018; confirm with your legal adviser.
• Healthcare platforms that list doctors: they must follow NMC advertising norms and must not offer paid rankings of doctors.
• Agencies and influencers: publishing through an agency, platform or influencer does not by itself free a doctor or hospital from responsibility for content they authorised, commissioned or knowingly permitted.

"Advertising" is defined widely: any promotional communication in print, TV, radio, websites, social media, WhatsApp, podcasts, influencer and sponsored posts, online healthcare platforms, promotional interviews, search-engine promotion and AI-generated or AI-assisted content. Genuinely non-promotional public information falls outside it, and news of new equipment or facilities can be shared if it carries no superiority, guaranteed-outcome or comparative claims.

Main restrictions

These are drawn from the published text. Some apply to doctors and hospitals alike; others are written for doctors but shape how hospitals feature them.

• Superiority claims (doctors and hospitals): no "best", "No. 1", "leading", "most trusted", "top" or similar claims unless objectively verifiable by a transparent, independent method. Any ranking or award cited must be verifiable, with the awarding body, date and method disclosed where needed.
• Guarantees: doctors must not advertise achievements, success rates or patient numbers with claims such as "guaranteed cure", "100% success", "painless treatment" or "miracle treatment". Hospital communication must not contain guarantees of cure or outcome, or unverifiable or exaggerated claims.
• Frequency (hospitals): the form, medium or frequency of communication must not turn factual information into solicitation.
• Fake reviews and engagement (doctors and hospitals): no soliciting, buying or manipulating fake, paid or misleading reviews, ratings, testimonials, followers, likes or views, and no manipulating search rankings to create a misleading impression of standing.
• Testimonials: doctors must not request or share patient testimonials or reviews for professional promotion on social media, or use celebrities, influencers, patients or employees to promote their services through testimonials or endorsements. Neither doctors nor hospitals may use a third party to do indirectly what they cannot do directly.
• Before-and-after photos and case publicity: doctors must not advertise surgical results, show before-and-after photos, publicise celebrity patients or promote success stories, except strictly for scientific or educational purposes with anonymised patient consent.
• Inducements (doctors and hospitals): no discounts, limited-period offers, coupons, cashbacks, referral benefits or free procedures likely to encourage unnecessary consultations, tests or treatment. Charges and packages may be disclosed if factual and not misleading.
• Referral and lead payments: doctors must not give or take referral or lead-generation fees for procuring patients, and agency, influencer or platform arrangements must not tie payment to individual patients.
• Doctors and marketing agencies: a doctor must not solicit patients directly or indirectly, promote their own services, "engage any third party for marketing medical services", or let their name, image, voice or endorsement be used to promote services. Because the same section also sets rules on how agencies may be paid (see above), how far a doctor may use an agency at all is not settled; doctors should take legal advice first.
• Individual doctors in hospital ads: hospital communication must not portray an individual doctor promotionally, and a doctor's photograph must not be used as self-advertisement.
• Also restricted: fear-based marketing, product endorsements by doctors, and hoardings carrying anything beyond factual information on facilities and infrastructure.

AI, privacy and consent

AI-generated promotional campaigns "for furtherance of commercial interest" are prohibited, and any AI-generated promotional content that does comply must be marked as AI-generated. AI must not be used to create or alter a patient's image, voice, testimonial or outcome, or to fabricate an endorsement. This wording is broad, so take advice before using AI images, voices or video in any promotion.

Patient consent does not by itself make an otherwise prohibited testimonial, before-and-after image or success claim acceptable (clause 6.2). Where patient photos or records are lawfully used at all, for example in strictly educational material, the guidelines expect specific, informed, voluntary and documented consent, with identifying details removed or blurred (clauses 6.1, 6.3 and 6.4). Advertising that uses personal data must also follow the IT Act 2000 and the DPDP Act 2023 and its Rules, to the extent they are in force.

What remains permitted

• Factual, verifiable hospital information: name, location, contact details, departments, facilities, equipment, emergency services, accreditation status and charges.
• A doctor directory on the hospital website (names, qualifications, specialties, registration details, availability), which the guidelines treat as patient information rather than paid advertising.
• Health awareness and educational content that does not promote a personal practice or solicit patients.
• Factual announcements by doctors about starting practice, a change of address, temporary absence and consultation fees.

Doctors' electronic media posts should show their name, qualifications, registration status and State or National Medical Register (SMR/NMR) number, and hospital posts should disclose the same details for the doctors concerned. Campaigns on central and state government programmes in the larger public interest are exempt.

Penalties

For doctors, State Medical Councils may take graded action: a warning and ethics training for a first violation, censure and a monetary penalty for a second, and three to six months' suspension for a third. Serious violations such as misleading cure claims or patient inducements can attract six to twelve months' suspension, and repeated violations removal from the register for one to three years, after a show-cause notice and with a right of appeal. Hospitals are to be dealt with under the applicable clinical establishments law, and a doctor who approved a prohibited hospital ad can face a separate inquiry.

This is one of the most common questions, and the answer is: only within narrow limits, which the October 2026 guidelines now spell out in more detail.

NMC rules for doctors: the 2002 and 2023 regulations

The NMC published the Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations in August 2023, which included more detailed rules on what doctors and institutions could publish. Within weeks, the NMC issued a notification placing those regulations in abeyance until further notice. Since then, the older Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 have continued to guide doctors' conduct, and the October 2026 guidelines are framed to be read with them rather than with the 2023 regulations.

Under the 2002 regulations, broadly:

• Soliciting patients directly or indirectly, personally or through advertisements, is treated as unethical.
• Doctors may make formal announcements in the press about starting practice, changing address or temporary absence, within limits on content.
• Signboards and letterheads should carry only factual information such as name, qualifications, registration, specialty and timings.
• Doctors should not endorse drugs or commercial products, or allow their names to be used in a way that amounts to self-advertisement.

What this means in practice

Doctors can share genuine patient education (talks, articles, videos explaining conditions), maintain accurate profiles on their hospital's website and on Google, and publish factual information about their practice, with their qualifications and registration number shown on electronic media posts. They should avoid ads that praise their own skill, publish success rates as marketing claims, ask for or share patient testimonials to promote themselves, show before-and-after photos, or offer inducements.

For years there was debate, including in proceedings before the Supreme Court, about whether hospitals and corporate healthcare groups should follow the same advertising standards as individual doctors, and press reports described an NMC panel recommending that the same rules apply to both. The October 2026 guidelines now cover hospitals and medical institutions as well as doctors, although action against hospitals runs through clinical establishments law rather than the medical councils. Check the current position before planning doctor-led campaigns. Our doctor branding approach is built around education-first content for this reason.

This older law is still central to healthcare advertising.

• It prohibits advertisements for drugs that claim to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat or prevent the diseases and conditions listed in its Schedule. The Schedule includes conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and many others.
• It prohibits advertisements of "magic remedies" (talismans, charms and similar) claiming to have miraculous powers to cure.
• It prohibits misleading advertisements about drugs, including false claims about their effect.
• It covers drugs promoted for certain purposes, such as improving sexual performance or preventing conception, among others.

For hospitals, the key risk is any message that promises a cure through a product, medicine or therapy, such as "permanent cure for diabetes" or "guaranteed weight loss". This matters for ayurveda and wellness centres in particular. A draft amendment in 2020 proposed expanding the list of conditions and increasing penalties; check whether any amendment has since been enacted.

Consumer Protection Act and CCPA guidelines

The Consumer Protection Act 2019 treats misleading advertisements as an unfair trade practice. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) can order corrective ads and impose penalties; Section 21 of the Act allows penalties of up to ₹10 lakh for a first offence and up to ₹50 lakh for subsequent offences, and endorsers can also be penalised. The CCPA's Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 explain what makes an ad misleading, and require disclosure of material connections in endorsements.

Patients who feel misled by a hospital's claims can also approach consumer commissions.

ASCI code

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is a self-regulatory body. Its code requires ads to be truthful, substantiated, not harmful and fair to competitors. ASCI has issued specific guidance on:

• Health claims: they must be backed by evidence.
• Influencers: influencers giving health or nutrition advice in promotions are expected to hold relevant qualifications and disclose them, and paid posts must be labelled as ads.
• Comparative claims: they must be fair and verifiable.

ASCI's published complaint reports have repeatedly listed healthcare among the sectors with the highest number of violating ads, so hospital campaigns do get scrutinised.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and the DPDP Rules 2025 (notified in November 2025, with the main consent, notice and children's data duties being phased in) change how hospitals can use patient data in marketing. MeitY has consulted on changing the phasing timeline, so check the current position.

Practical implications for hospital advertising:

• Consent for marketing. Using a patient's phone number for WhatsApp campaigns, or uploading patient lists to ad platforms for targeting, needs a clear lawful basis, which for marketing will usually mean specific consent.
• Clear notices. Patients should know what data you collect and why.
• Withdrawal. Patients must be able to opt out easily.
• Testimonials and photos. Under the NMC's 2026 guidelines, consent does not by itself make a promotional testimonial or patient story acceptable. Where a patient's name, photo or video is lawfully used at all, for example in strictly educational material, specific, documented consent is needed, and it can be withdrawn.
• Security. Lead forms and CRMs that hold enquiry data need proper access control.

Check with your legal adviser on how the phased timelines apply to your systems.

The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act prohibits any advertisement about facilities for pre-natal determination of sex or sex selection. This applies to any medium, including websites, search ads and social media. Scan, maternity and IVF marketing must never contain phrases or images suggesting the baby's sex can be known or chosen. Supreme Court directions have also required search engines to block such content. This is one of the strictest rules in Indian healthcare marketing, with criminal penalties.

The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act 2021 regulates ART clinics and banks. Among other things, it prohibits offering or advertising sex selection and restricts how gametes and embryos can be sourced, so advertising for donors or donor services needs particular care. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 bans commercial surrogacy, and advertising it is prohibited. IVF centres should also keep success rates out of advertising: the NMC's October 2026 guidelines say doctors shall not advertise them (clause 8.1(iii)), and consumer law bars figures that could mislead. See the IVF marketing strategy guide for practical alternatives.

Rule 170 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 required ayurveda, siddha and unani drug advertisements to be approved by state licensing authorities. The Central Government omitted Rule 170 in July 2024; the Supreme Court stayed that omission in August 2024, and in August 2025 the Court disposed of the matter and vacated the stay. As things stand, Rule 170's pre-approval requirement appears to no longer apply, but the Magic Remedies Act, the Consumer Protection Act and the ASCI code still do. Ayurveda hospitals in Kerala should continue to avoid cure claims and get legal confirmation of the current position.

The NMC's October 2026 guidelines define hospitals to include establishments in any recognised system of medicine, and list ethical parity across systems of medicine among their aims. Ayurveda hospitals should not assume those guidelines are irrelevant to them; ask your legal adviser how they apply alongside the rules for AYUSH practitioners.

In May 2024, in a case brought by the Indian Medical Association, the Supreme Court directed that advertisers submit a self-declaration before ads are published or broadcast. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's July 2024 advisory limited this to food and health-sector advertisers, who were asked to upload a self-declaration on the Broadcast Seva portal for TV and radio ads and on the Press Council of India portal for print and internet ads. The Supreme Court disposed of that case in August 2025, so ask your media agency or legal adviser whether the self-declaration is still required for your campaigns.

Section 39 of the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act 2018 requires clinical establishments to display their fee and package rates, in Malayalam and English. The Kerala High Court upheld these provisions in 2025, and a challenge by private hospitals was then taken to the Supreme Court, which granted interim protection to the petitioners in December 2025 while the case is heard. Whatever the final outcome, any package or price you advertise should match what you display and charge. Under the NMC's October 2026 guidelines, unethical advertising by hospitals is also to be dealt with under the applicable clinical establishments law, which prevails if it conflicts with the guidelines, so the state Act matters for advertising as well as registration. Local bodies may also regulate hoardings and outdoor ads, so check with your legal and administration teams.

Platform rules sit on top of Indian law. Even a legal ad can be rejected.

Google Ads

• Google's Healthcare and medicines policy restricts prescription drug promotion in India. A 2026 update allows certified online pharmacies to apply to promote some services, but restrictions on prescription drug promotion remain.
• Unproven or experimental treatments cannot be promoted.
• Health is a sensitive interest category under Google's personalised advertising policies, so remarketing based on someone's health condition is restricted.
• Drug and alcohol addiction treatment ads are allowed only in certain countries and only for certified advertisers, and India is not among the countries Google lists, so de-addiction services should check the current policy before planning search ads.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

• Ads must not assert or imply a person's health condition ("Struggling with infertility?" or "Do you have diabetes?").
• Before-and-after images and claims about body image are restricted, particularly for cosmetic and weight-loss services.
• Detailed targeting options based on health topics have been reduced, so campaigns rely more on broad and location targeting.

Platform policies change often. Read the current versions before each major campaign. Our guide to hospital advertising examples shows ideas that work inside these limits.

1. Is every claim factual and backed by evidence you can show?
2. Does it avoid "guaranteed", "100%", "painless" and "permanent cure", and use "best", "No. 1" or "most trusted" only where the claim is objectively verifiable?
3. Does it avoid claims about diseases in the Magic Remedies Act schedule?
4. Does it avoid promotional testimonials, patient stories and before-and-after images, and is any patient material you lawfully use backed by written consent and stripped of identifying details?
5. Does it avoid any sex-selection reference?
6. Does a doctor-led message focus on education, not self-praise, and show the doctor's qualifications and registration number?
7. Are prices and package inclusions accurate and consistent with what you charge, with no discounts, coupons or free offers that push unnecessary tests or treatment?
8. Are all reviews and ratings genuine, unpaid and unmanipulated?
9. Is any AI-generated content labelled, with no synthetic patients, doctors or voices?
10. Does the targeting use only data you have consent for?
11. Does it meet Google or Meta policies for the platform?
12. Has someone outside the marketing team reviewed it?

Adserr checks hospital campaigns against these rules as part of its healthcare advertising work in Kerala. For anything uncertain, the right step is always to ask your legal adviser before publishing. You can learn more about how we work as a healthcare-only agency in Kochi.

Rules and their status change, so check the current official text rather than relying on any summary, including this one. These official sites are the best starting points:

• NMC public notice of 6 October 2026: Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication (PDF)the official text of the guidelines summarised above.
• National Medical Commissionregulations and notices on professional conduct for doctors.
• India Codethe official online database of central and state Acts, including the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, the Consumer Protection Act 2019, the PCPNDT Act, the ART (Regulation) Act and the DPDP Act.
• Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)the ASCI code and its guidelines, including those on influencer advertising.
• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technologyinformation on the DPDP Act 2023 and the DPDP Rules 2025.
• Ministry of Ayushpolicy, notices and regulatory updates for ayurveda, siddha, unani and homoeopathy.

Are doctors allowed to advertise in India?

Doctors may share factual information and patient education, but NMC rules treat self-promotion and soliciting patients as unethical. The 2002 regulations still apply, and the NMC's October 2026 advertising guidelines add specific limits, such as no testimonials for self-promotion on social media, no promotional before-and-after photos and no unverifiable "best" or "100% success" claims. Check the current position with a legal adviser before planning anything beyond factual information and education.

What are the NMC advertising guidelines for doctors?

The main reference is now the NMC's Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication, issued on 6 October 2026 and read together with the 2002 professional-conduct regulations. They bar soliciting patients, self-promotion, engaging a third party to market a doctor's services, product endorsements, fake or paid reviews, misleading AI-generated content and inducement offers, while allowing health education and factual announcements about practice. The 2023 regulations were placed in abeyance in August 2023, and the new guidelines refer to the 2002 regulations instead, so watch for further NMC clarifications.

Can hospitals advertise in India?

Yes, but within limits. The NMC's October 2026 guidelines allow hospitals to share factual, verifiable information such as departments, facilities, equipment, emergency services, accreditation and charges, but not superiority claims, guarantees, inducements or promotional portrayal of individual doctors. For hospitals, the guidelines are read with the applicable clinical establishments law, and the Magic Remedies Act, privacy law, the PCPNDT Act and Google and Meta policies also apply.

Can a hospital use patient testimonials in ads?

This has become much riskier. The October 2026 guidelines bar fake, paid or misleading testimonials and reviews, stop doctors from requesting or sharing testimonials for self-promotion on social media, and say patient consent does not by itself make an otherwise prohibited testimonial or patient story acceptable. Because the guidelines also limit hospital advertising to factual particulars about the establishment, treat patient testimonials as off-limits in advertising and use doctor-led education instead. Check any borderline use, such as anonymised educational case material, with your legal adviser.

Can we say "best hospital" in our ads?

Only if the claim is objectively verifiable. The NMC's 2026 guidelines bar "best", "No. 1", "leading", "most trusted" and similar claims unless they rest on a transparent, independently checkable method, and any ranking or award you cite must be verifiable. The ASCI code and consumer protection law set a similar standard, so specific, verifiable facts are the safer choice.

Do healthcare ads need approval before publishing?

There is no single approval for most hospital ads, but some channels and products have specific processes, such as self-declarations for certain TV and print ads, and platform reviews on Google and Meta. The NMC's 2026 guidelines set rules and penalties rather than a pre-approval process, and ayurveda drug advertising rules have also changed recently. Confirm requirements with your legal adviser for each campaign.