Draft summary for clinic owners, based on the NMC notice dated 6 October 2026. It is not legal advice and needs legal review before it is published.
India: the NMC guidelines
On 6 October 2026 the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued its Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners, with immediate effect.
What counts as advertising
Any communication that directly or indirectly promotes the services, reputation, skills, qualifications or facilities of a doctor or hospital (section 3.2). Digital, social-media, sponsored, influencer-led, search-engine, AI-generated and audio-visual content is treated as advertising where it has a promotional character. Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp are listed as a medium of advertisement (section 3.5).
What the guidelines say clinics can’t do
- Claim guaranteed cures, “best doctors”, “No.1 Specialist”, “100% success”, “painless treatment”, “miracle treatment”, or make other unverifiable or exaggerated claims (8.1 iii).
- Make comparative claims such as “best”, “No.1”, “leading”, “most trusted” or “top” unless they are objectively verifiable, based on a transparent and independently ascertainable methodology, and otherwise permitted by law (8.1 ix).
- Publish cases for promotion, advertise surgical results, show before-and-after photographs, or promote personal success stories, except where published strictly for scientific or educational purposes with anonymised patient consent (8.1 v). Patient consent does not make an otherwise prohibited testimonial or before-and-after depiction permissible (6.2).
- Solicit, buy, procure or manipulate fake, paid or misleading reviews, ratings, testimonials or endorsements, or fake followers and likes. A doctor shall not request or share patient testimonials or reviews for promotion on social media (Explanation V to 3.2; 8.1 xii).
- Use discounts, limited-period offers, contests, coupons, gifts, cashbacks, referral benefits or free procedures in a way likely to encourage unnecessary consultation or treatment. Any lawful disclosure of charges, packages or fees must be factual and not misleading (8.1 x).
- Structure payments to agencies, influencers or platforms so that they are linked to the procurement or referral of individual patients (8.1 vii and viii).
- Run fear-based marketing or activity meant to create unnecessary demand for procedures or diagnostics (8.1 i).
- Share patient data such as names, faces or anomalies that can be identified publicly (7.4), or use patient information in advertising without meeting privacy and consent requirements (6.1 to 6.4).
What clinics can do
- Publish factual, objective and verifiable information: name, location, contact details, departments, facilities, equipment, services, emergency services, accreditation status and charges (8.3 i, 9.1). Information about equipment and facilities must not claim superiority, guaranteed accuracy or guaranteed outcomes (Explanation II to 3.2).
- Run a hospital website directory of doctors with names, recognised qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability. The guidelines regard this as a patient-information function, distinct from a paid or promotional advertisement (9.1).
- Share health-awareness and educational content, provided it does not promote personal practice, solicit patients or get monetised through promotional marketing (5.1).
- Name the doctor, qualifications, registration status and SMR/NMR registration number on electronic media posts (Explanations III and IV to 3.2).
AI-generated content
Section 7.2 says an AI-generated promotional campaign for furtherance of commercial interest is prohibited, and that AI-generated promotional content that conforms to the guidelines must carry a source mark stating that it is AI. AI must not be used to create or manipulate a patient’s image, testimonial, voice or clinical outcome, or to create a synthetic endorsement. How 7.2 applies to your content is a question for your legal adviser.
Responsibility and penalties
Using an agency, influencer or other intermediary does not by itself relieve the doctor or institution of responsibility for content it authorised, commissioned, sponsored, adopted or knowingly permitted (4.4). For doctors, the notice says graded action may be contemplated by the State Medical Council, from a warning and mandatory ethics training to suspension or removal from the register (10.1). Hospitals are dealt with under the applicable Clinical Establishments Act and rules.
Advertising that processes personal data must also comply with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its Rules (7.6).
Australia
[Australia section: draft from Ahpra’s advertising guidelines and section 133 of the National Law, then legal review]