NMC guidelines for marketing: the National Medical Commission's 2026 rules on how doctors and hospitals in India may advertise.
The NMC guidelines on marketing are the National Medical Commission's Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners, issued on 6 October 2026 (public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics) and in force immediately. They set what registered medical practitioners (RMPs) and hospitals may publish about themselves, on any medium, and are read with the IMC (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations 2002 and the NMC Act 2019.
Updated 8 October 2026 to the National Medical Commission's Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners (public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics, dated 6 October 2026, in force immediately). Paragraph numbers in this article refer to those guidelines. General information, not legal advice.
This is a short definition. For the full rules, read the complete guide to the NMC advertising guidelines 2026; for what a hospital or clinic may publish, see NMC-compliant healthcare marketing.
What the guidelines cover.
- A wide definition of advertising (para 3.2). Any communication that directly or indirectly solicits or promotes, including digital, social-media, sponsored, influencer-led, search-engine, platform-based and AI-generated or AI-assisted promotion. Information given in the normal course without promotional intent is exempt (Explanation I).
- Registration disclosure (Explanations III and IV). Electronic-media posts by or naming an RMP must show the name, qualifications, registration status and SMR/NMR registration number.
- No superlatives or guarantees (paras 8.1(iii) and 8.1(ix)). No "best doctor", "No.1", "100% success" or "painless" claims; "best", "leading", "most trusted" or "top" only if objectively verifiable with a disclosed methodology.
- No testimonials, before-and-after images or inducements (Explanation V, paras 6.2, 8.1(v), 8.1(x), 8.1(xi)). Consent does not make a prohibited testimonial lawful; discounts, offers, coupons, cashback and free procedures are barred as inducements.
- Factual institutional advertising (paras 8.3 and 9.1). Hospitals may publish factual, verifiable information such as departments, facilities, equipment, services, accreditation status and charges, and keep a doctor directory for patient information.
- AI and patient data (paras 7.2, 7.4 and 7.6). No AI-generated promotional campaigns for commercial interest; AI-generated content carries a source mark; no identifiable patient data; IT Act and DPDP Act apply.
- Responsibility stays with the doctor or hospital (para 4.4). Publishing through an agency, platform or influencer does not shift responsibility for content the RMP or institution authorised or knowingly permitted.
Why it matters for
Indian healthcare.
Before October 2026, doctor advertising was governed mainly by Chapter 6 of the 2002 Regulations, written for signboards, letterheads and print. The guidelines bring social media, WhatsApp (named as a medium in para 3.5), search ads, healthcare platforms and AI-generated content explicitly into scope, and they address hospitals directly. Other regimes sit alongside them: the Clinical Establishments Act or State Act for hospitals (paras 4.3 and 10.1), the DPDP Act 2023 for patient data (para 7.6), the ASCI code and the Consumer Protection Act 2019 for misleading claims. Dentists are regulated by the Dental Council of India rather than the NMC. ICG treats every named-doctor creative as a compliance artefact as well as a marketing one: checked against the current guidelines, signed off and stored.
How ICG uses this.
ICG's creative brief template carries the registration-disclosure pattern, the superlative and inducement checks and the AI source-mark rule, so they are applied before a draft reaches review. Hospitals and clinics can ask for a free NMC compliance check of what they have already published. Related: NMC Social Media Guidelines, ASCI Medical Guidelines, NABH Marketing Compliance.
Frequently asked questions.
What are the NMC advertising guidelines?
They are the National Medical Commission's Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners, issued by public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics on 6 October 2026 and in force immediately. They cover doctors and hospitals, across print, digital, social media, search, WhatsApp, influencer and AI-generated promotion, and are read with the IMC (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations 2002.
Can a doctor be shown in a Meta ad run by a hospital?
A hospital may publish factual, objective and verifiable information, but not promotional portrayal of an individual RMP (para 8.3). Where a post names a doctor it must disclose the doctor's name, qualifications, registration status and SMR/NMR number (para 3.2, Explanation IV). 'Best', 'No.1' or 'top' claims need objective verification with a disclosed methodology (para 8.1(ix)), and offers or free procedures used as inducements are barred (para 8.1(x)).
If an agency runs the ad, who is responsible?
The doctor or institution. Para 4.4 says publishing through an agency, platform or influencer does not absolve the RMP or institution of content it authorised, commissioned, sponsored, adopted or knowingly permitted. Separately, para 8.1(ii) bars an RMP from engaging a third party to market medical services, so agencies work with hospitals and clinics, and with doctors only on educational content in their own name (para 8.2(iii)).
Are patient testimonials permitted?
No, not for promotion. Explanation V to para 3.2 bars fake, paid or misleading reviews, testimonials and endorsements, and bars an RMP from requesting or sharing patient testimonials for professional promotion on social media. Para 8.1(xi) bars celebrity, influencer, patient and employee testimonials, and para 6.2 says consent does not make a prohibited testimonial or before-and-after image lawful.
What happens if the guidelines are breached?
For RMPs, para 10.1 sets out graded action that 'may be contemplated' by the State Medical Council, from a warning with mandatory ethics training for a first violation up to removal from the register for one to three years for repeated violations, after a show-cause notice and a reasoned order (paras 10.2 and 10.3). Hospitals are dealt with under the Clinical Establishments Act or the relevant State Act.
Read next.
How ICG works within these guidelines
ICG is a healthcare marketing agency. Our clients are hospitals, clinics and medical institutions, which may publish factual, objective and verifiable information about themselves (paras 8.3 and 9.1). For individual doctors, ICG supports only genuinely educational content in the doctor's own name and designation (para 8.2(iii)). For doctors and their practices, we run patient-education-driven campaigns: awareness content that helps patients understand their condition and their options, published in the doctor's own name and designation (para 8.2(iii)) and kept free of the self-promotion that para 8.1(ii) bars.
The work is education-first and runs across six channels:
- Awareness content on YouTube. Doctor-led educational videos on public health and disease awareness, in the doctor's own name and designation, without promoting the employer organisation (para 8.2(iii)). See YODA and YouTube marketing for healthcare.
- Research articles and blogs that help patients understand their options: information shared in the normal course, not promotion (para 3.2, Explanation I). See healthcare content marketing, ICG research reports and healthcare SEO.
- Expert answers on Reddit and Quora from named, disclosed accounts. No anonymous or fake posts, no undisclosed commercial relationships and no manufactured engagement (paras 8.1(xi) and 8.1(xii)). See Reddit and Quora programmes.
- Awareness campaigns on Meta, run from the hospital's or clinic's own page, with no discounts, offers, free procedures or other inducements (paras 8.1(x) and 8.3). See Meta advertising for hospitals and clinics.
- NMC-compliant Google Ads landing pages: factual departments, services and facilities, with no "best", "No.1", "100% success", "painless" or "guaranteed" claims (paras 8.1(iii) and 8.1(ix)). See Google Ads for hospitals and clinics.
- "Learn More" instead of "Book Now" on patient-facing pages, so that a page informs rather than solicits (paras 8.1(ii) and 8.3(ii)).
All six rest on three kinds of content: scientific (evidence-based, checked by a qualified clinician), persona-based (written for the questions a specific patient group asks) and consumer-based (built from how people search, compare and decide). AI-assisted drafts go through human medical review, and AI-generated content that is published carries an AI source mark (para 7.2). We do not publish patient testimonials, before-and-after images or superiority claims, and we never buy, incentivise or gate reviews.
Free NMC compliance check. We review a hospital's or clinic's website, Google Business Profile and social channels against the October 2026 guidelines and send back a written list of fixes.
See what the check covers · Request the check · Book a 30-minute call
General information, not legal advice. Source: NMC public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics, 6 October 2026.
Audit your clinic ads
against the 2026 NMC guidelines.
ICG runs a free 30-min Brand & Growth Diagnostic that plugs into your live account and surfaces this metric against portfolio benchmarks. Or request the free NMC compliance check for a written list of fixes.
