What do the NMC's new advertising rules mean for your clinic?

By Jaideep Badal · 15 October 2026 · 9 min read

For years, a lot of clinic marketing in India has looked the same: a smiling patient video, a before-and-after photo, "100% painless", "No. 1 clinic in the city", a festive discount on a full-body checkup.

Most of that now runs into the NMC's new guidelines. And unlike older rules that sat quietly in a regulation book, these were written with Instagram, Google, ad platforms and AI in mind.

Here is what changed, in plain language, and what a clinic owner should check this week.

What did the NMC issue, and who does it apply to?

The NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board issued a public notice on 6 October 2026: Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners. It came into force with immediate effect. It was framed in view of a Supreme Court writ petition, and it is read alongside the 2002 Ethics Regulations and the NMC Act.

It applies to registered medical practitioners (RMPs) and to hospitals and medical institutions, which includes clinics. For hospitals and clinics, the Clinical Establishments Act or the relevant state law still takes priority if the two genuinely conflict.

The definition of "advertisement" is wide. It covers social media, websites and blogs, WhatsApp and other messaging apps, podcasts, influencer and sponsored posts, search and platform promotion, online healthcare platforms, and AI-generated or AI-assisted content, whenever the content has a promotional character. Plain information shared with the public, with no promotional intent, is exempt.

Two points matter for almost every clinic:

• Agencies don't take the blame for you. If an agency, influencer or platform publishes something the clinic or doctor authorised, commissioned, sponsored or knowingly allowed, the clinic and the doctor are still responsible (clause 4.4).
• Listing platforms are covered too. Healthcare platforms that list doctors must follow these norms, and paid ranking of doctors is prohibited (clause 9.4).

What is no longer allowed in clinic marketing?

1. Patient testimonials and success stories for promotion. This includes video testimonials, "patient stories" and celebrity patients. Patient consent alone does not make a testimonial acceptable (clause 6.2).
2. Before-and-after photos and published cases used for promotion. The only exception is strictly scientific or educational use with anonymised patient consent (clause 8.1 v).
3. Guaranteed outcomes and exaggerated claims. The guidelines name them directly: "Guaranteed cures", "Best doctors", "No.1 Specialist", "100% success", "painless treatment", "Miracle treatment" (clause 8.1 iii).
4. Comparative claims like "best", "leading", "most trusted" or "top", unless they are objectively verifiable through a transparent, independent method. Any award or ranking you cite must be verifiable, with its details disclosed (clause 8.1 ix).
5. Fake, paid or manipulated reviews and ratings. Also fake followers, likes, comments and views, and gaming search rankings (clause 8.1 xii).
6. Fear-based marketing and anything that creates demand for unnecessary tests or procedures (clause 8.1 i).
7. Discounts and offers that encourage unnecessary care. Discounts, limited-period offers, contests, coupons, gifts, cashbacks, referral benefits and free procedures are out where they are likely to drive avoidable consultations, tests or treatment (clause 8.1 x).
8. Paying for patients. Commissions, referral fees or lead-generation fees linked to patients, including agency or platform deals priced per patient (clauses 8.1 vii and viii).
9. The doctor's photograph used as self-promotion (clause 9.2), and hoardings or billboards that go beyond factual information (clause 5.2).
10. Any patient detail that can identify them: names, faces, photos, records (clauses 6.1 and 7.4).

What can a clinic still say and post?

• Factual information: name, location, contact details, departments, facilities, equipment, services, emergency services, accreditation and fees (clause 9.1).
• Fees and packages, stated plainly. They must be factual, transparent and not misleading.
• A doctor directory on your website with names, qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability. This counts as patient information, not advertising (clause 9.1).
• Doctor details on posts. Electronic posts by a doctor should show their name, qualifications, registration status and NMR/SMR number. Clinic posts should name the doctors with the same details (Explanations III and IV).
• Genuine health education: awareness programmes, public health campaigns, talks and educational content, as long as they don't promote the practice, don't solicit patients and aren't monetised (clause 5.1). Health-education leaflets for patients in the clinic are fine if they make no cure or superiority claims.
• Formal announcements: starting a practice, a change of address or practice type, temporary absence, resuming practice, and consultation fees (clause 9.3).

A simple test before you post anything: does this help a person understand their health, or does it try to get them to choose us? The first is education. The second is advertising, and it now has to be strictly factual.

What about Google reviews?

This is where most clinics will have questions, so it is worth being precise.

• Clearly not allowed: soliciting, buying, procuring or manipulating fake, paid or misleading reviews, ratings or testimonials. Getting staff, patients or anyone else to do it for you counts too (Explanation V, clauses 8.1 xi and xii).
• Also not allowed for doctors: "An RMP shall not request or share patient testimonials, recommendations, endorsements or reviews for professional promotion on social media." So reposting 5-star reviews as Instagram creatives, or "see what our patients say" posts, are out.
• Not clearly addressed: whether simply asking a patient to leave an honest review on your Google profile counts as requesting a review "for professional promotion on social media". The notice doesn't say.

Our practical reading, until the NMC clarifies (it has the power to issue clarifications under clause 12): don't offer anything in return for a review, don't script what patients write, don't push review requests through doctors, and don't reuse reviews in any promotion. If you still ask for feedback, make it neutral ("tell us how your visit went") rather than a request for a 5-star rating. Do keep replying to reviews, calmly and without revealing anything about the patient. Our guide on how clinics should reply to Google reviews covers the safe way to do that.

Can clinics use AI-generated content?

Yes, but with tight limits:

• "AI Generated promotional campaign for furtherance of commercial interest is prohibited" (clause 7.2).
• Any AI-generated content that is otherwise allowed must carry a source mark stating that it was made by AI.
• AI can't be used to create or alter a patient's image, voice, testimonial or treatment outcome, or to make a synthetic endorsement that looks like it comes from a real patient or doctor.
• AI can't be used to make claims about diagnosis, treatment, outcomes or qualifications that are misleading or can't be verified.

If you use AI to help write a health-awareness post, review it like any other post, label it, and keep it educational.

Can a clinic still hire a marketing agency?

This is the least clear part of the notice. Clause 8.1 (ii) says an RMP shall not "engage any third party for marketing medical services". Yet other clauses describe how agencies, influencers and platforms may be engaged: payment must not be linked to procuring individual patients (8.1 viii), and the doctor stays responsible for what they publish (4.4).

The safest reading for now: an agency can help with factual information, your Google profile, your website, patient communication and operations. It should not run promotional campaigns that a doctor couldn't run directly, and it should never be paid per patient or per lead. Expect the NMC to clarify this.

What happens if a doctor breaks these rules?

Action against doctors sits with the State Medical Council, only after a show-cause notice, and with a reasoned written order. The graded action in clause 10.1 is:

• First violation: warning and mandatory ethics training.
• Second violation: censure and a monetary penalty.
• Third violation: suspension of registration for 3 to 6 months.
• Serious violation (misleading cure claims, inducing patients, digital mass solicitation): suspension for 6 to 12 months.
• Repeated violations: removal from the medical register for 1 to 3 years.

Doctors can appeal to the NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board within 60 days. Hospitals and clinics are dealt with under the Clinical Establishments Act or state law, and the doctor involved can still be examined separately.

For most clinics, the bigger day-to-day risk is simpler: a complaint from a competitor or a patient about an old post that nobody remembered to take down.

A 10-point checklist for this week

1. Go through your Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Archive testimonial videos, patient stories and before-and-after posts.
2. Remove "best", "No. 1", "guaranteed", "100%" and "painless" style claims from your website, Google profile, posters and ads.
3. Stop any discounts, coupons, contests or referral rewards tied to consultations, tests or procedures. Keep fee information factual.
4. Remove promotional posters, banners and hoardings that go beyond factual information.
5. Make sure posts by doctors show their name, qualifications and registration number.
6. Don't reward or script reviews, and stop reposting reviews as promotional creatives.
7. Label any AI-generated content, and drop AI-made "patients" or "doctors" from ads.
8. Ask any listing platform you pay whether your visibility is a paid ranking.
9. Brief your agency or freelancer in writing, and make sure no fee is tied to the number of patients or leads. They work for you, but the responsibility is yours.
10. Check patient data on WhatsApp and social media: no names, faces or reports without proper consent. Our DPDP checklist for clinic WhatsApp helps here.

Where Tevio fits

We work with clinics on their Google profile, website and patient communication: the factual, patient-facing side that these guidelines leave open. We're reviewing every client's public touchpoints against the notice, and keeping what genuinely helps patients: accurate information, prompt and careful replies, and good follow-up after a visit. See how we handle Google profiles for clinics.

Frequently asked questions

When did the NMC advertising guidelines come into force?

The NMC issued them on 6 October 2026, with immediate effect.

Can a clinic post patient testimonials if the patient has given consent?

No. Under the new guidelines, patient consent by itself does not make a promotional testimonial acceptable.

Can a clinic still ask patients for Google reviews?

Soliciting or buying fake, paid or misleading reviews is prohibited, and doctors must not request or share reviews for professional promotion on social media. The notice doesn't clearly say whether a neutral request for honest feedback on Google is allowed, so don't incentivise or script reviews, keep any request neutral, and don't reuse reviews in promotion.

Can clinics offer discounts or health packages?

Clinics can state fees and packages factually. Discounts, coupons, cashbacks, contests, referral rewards and free procedures are not allowed where they are likely to encourage unnecessary consultations, tests or treatment.

Is the clinic responsible if a marketing agency posts something wrong?

Yes. If the clinic or doctor authorised, commissioned, sponsored or knowingly allowed the content, using an agency, influencer or platform does not remove their responsibility.

This article summarises the NMC notice for clinic owners. It is not legal advice. For a specific situation, read the notice in full or speak to a lawyer.

Sources: 1. National Medical Commission, Ethics & Medical Registration Board: Public Notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics dated 06/10/2026, Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication (PDF) · 2. National Medical Commission: What's New · 3. Medical Dialogues: NMC bars paid rankings on healthcare platforms