NMC Advertising Guidelines 2026 for Clinics: Google Reviews, WhatsApp, Instagram and Your Clinic Website

On 6 October 2026, the National Medical Commission issued public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics: "Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners". It came into force with immediate effect. For a solo OPD, the practical questions are simple: is my signboard fine, can I still ask for Google reviews, and what about the clinic Instagram page my nephew runs?

This self-check takes about 30 minutes. Each point carries its clause number so you can check the NMC PDF yourself, and where the notice is unclear, we say so.

This is a general guide, not legal advice.

Who this covers#

• Doctors (RMPs): registered under the NMC Act, on the National or a State Medical Register (clause 3.7).
• Clinics: "Hospital/Medical Institution" includes establishments treating out-patients (3.4). The Clinical Establishments Act or your state law is read alongside and wins in a conflict (4.3).
• Dentists and AYUSH practitioners are under their own councils, but check any page you share with an MBBS colleague.

The guidelines are read with the IMC (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 (4.2). An agency, staff member or relative posting for you does not shift responsibility for content you "authorized, commissioned, sponsored, adopted or knowingly permitted" (4.4).

The 30-minute self-check#

1. Signboard, letterhead and Rx pad (5 minutes)#

• No photo of yourself on the letterhead or signboard. Clause 9.2 applies regulations 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 of the 2002 regulations and calls it unethical. Diagrams of the human body are fine (6.1.2).
• Registration number in the clinic and on every prescription, certificate and money receipt (2002 regulations, 1.4.1), with only recognised degrees after your name (1.4.2).
• Board contents: name, qualifications, titles, speciality, and registration number with the council's name, on a board that is not "unusually large". Your prescription papers should carry the same (7.13).

In many Indian chambers, the doctor's photo is on the flex board outside or pre-set in the printer's Rx pad design. Change that first. Rented hoardings may carry only factual information about infrastructure and facilities (5.2).

If you print from Medabha, the qualification, registration number and medical council you enter once under Settings → Letterhead & Rx print on every prescription, PDF and WhatsApp copy. The printed header has no photo field, but check the tagline you type there against the claims rules below.

2. Google Business Profile and reviews (8 minutes)#

The key text is Explanation V under clause 3.2:

"No RMP or hospital/medical institution shall solicit, purchase, procure, manipulate or cause to be published fake, paid or misleading patient reviews, ratings, testimonials, endorsements or recommendations for the promotion of medical services. An RMP shall not request or share patient testimonials, recommendations, endorsements or reviews for professional promotion on social media."

The first sentence applies everywhere: no bought reviews, no "review us for a discount", no agency review packages. Clause 8.1(xii) adds fake followers, likes and ratings, and manipulating "search rankings, visibility or algorithms".

The second sentence is where it gets unclear. "Social media" (3.6) covers internet-based websites and apps that let users "create, share and join online communities, participate in social networking". Google reviews are public and user-generated, but whether Maps is "social networking" is not settled. Until NMC clarifies, the conservative reading is:

• Stop asking for reviews: no QR standee at reception, no receptionist script, no automatic post-visit WhatsApp asking for one.
• Don't screenshot or repost reviews on Instagram or your website. That is "sharing".
• Keep the profile factual: name, address, timings, services, fees. "Best ENT in Pune" in the business name or description is a superiority claim (8.1(ix)).

Older advice saying it is fine to ask real patients for honest reviews predates this notice. Treat it as outdated.

Replying to a review: the notice doesn't cover replies, but identifiable patient data must not be shared publicly (7.4). Don't confirm the person was your patient or mention their condition. A short thank-you and the clinic number is enough.

Listing apps and agencies: platforms must not run paid ranking of doctors (9.4), and payments to agencies or platforms must not be linked to procuring individual patients (8.1(vii), 8.1(viii)). If your marketing contract is priced per lead or per booked patient, have it reviewed.

3. WhatsApp (5 minutes)#

Clause 3.5 lists "messaging platforms (WhatsApp, Telegrams, Facebook etc.)" as a medium of advertisement. But advertising is defined by promotional character (3.2), and non-promotional information is exempted (Explanation I). Our reading, not spelled out in the notice: sending your own patients their prescriptions, reports and follow-up dates is care, not advertising.

Open your broadcast lists and status updates and remove:

• Offers like "free sugar test this Sunday" or "20% off full-body check-up". Discounts, coupons, cashbacks, referral benefits and free procedures that encourage unnecessary visits or tests are barred (8.1(x)).
• Fear-based messages that push tests (8.1(i)).
• Forwarded thank-you messages from patients (Explanation V). Consent does not make a testimonial acceptable (6.2).

What stays fine: national-day greetings without advertising (8.2(v)), and formal announcements about starting practice, a new address, temporary absence, resuming practice or fees (8.2(ii), 9.3), such as "Clinic closed 20 to 24 October". Government health campaigns are exempt (Explanation under 7.3). Fee disclosures must be "factual, transparent and not misleading".

4. Instagram, Facebook and YouTube (5 minutes)#

• Every post: name, qualifications, registration status and SMR/NMR registration number (Explanation III). Put it in the caption or end card, not just the bio. Clinic accounts must name the doctor with the same details (Explanation IV).
• Health education is allowed if it doesn't promote your practice, solicit patients or get "monetized through promotional marketing" (5.1). A reel on when a child's fever needs a doctor is education. Ending it with "Book now, call 98xxx" starts to look like solicitation.
• Remove before-and-after photos, success stories and celebrity patients (8.1(v), except strictly scientific or educational use with anonymised consent), and claims like "No.1 Specialist", "100% success" or "painless treatment" (8.1(iii)).
• Patient faces and names: don't post anything that identifies a patient (7.4). Crop or blur identifying marks (6.4).
• Brand deals: endorsing any drug, device or health product with your name or photo is barred, paid or not (8.1(iv)).

5. Clinic website (4 minutes)#

Clause 9.1 allows factual particulars: name, contact details, departments, diagnostic facilities, emergency services, accreditation, facilities and fees. A doctor directory with names, recognised qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability is "materially distinct from a paid or promotional advertisement". It speaks of hospital websites, but suits a solo site too.

Remove testimonial sections, star-rating widgets and before-and-after galleries, and any "best", "leading", "most trusted" or "top" that is not objectively verifiable through a transparent method (8.1(ix)). Awards must be independently verifiable, with the awarding body, method and date disclosed. "We have digital X-ray" is factual. "Most accurate X-rays in the city" is not (Explanation II). The same goes for trust badges you cannot prove, such as "zero waiting time".

Sample reviews, ratings or stock photos filled in by a website builder or agency become your content once published (4.4). Replace or delete them.

If you publish from Medabha, the doctor card shows the qualification and registration number you entered, the site does not ship sample testimonials or ratings, and Medabha does not send a post-visit WhatsApp asking for a Google review. Check any wording you type yourself against the claims rules above.

On your own photo, clause 9.2 bars it "where such use constitutes self-advertisement" but draws no exact line. A hero banner reading "Your trusted specialist" is riskier than a plain profile photo beside factual details.

6. AI-generated content (3 minutes)#

AI-generated promotional campaigns for commercial interest are prohibited. Permitted AI-generated promotional content "shall compulsorily carry the source mark, explicitly stating that the origin of the content is AI" (7.2). AI must not create or alter a patient's image, testimonial, voice or outcome (7.2(b)).

If ChatGPT drafted your caption or blog, add a plain label such as "Drafted with AI assistance, reviewed by Dr ___". Never paste identifiable patient details into a public AI tool: patient data used as AI input must meet privacy and data-protection law (7.2(d)). That covers AI scribes too, alongside your DPDP Act duties.

Your checklist#

If a complaint reaches your State Medical Council#

Clause 10.1 lists graded action the SMC "may" consider:

1. First violation: warning and mandatory ethics training.
2. Second: censure and a monetary penalty (no amount stated).
3. Third: suspension of registration for 3 to 6 months.
4. Serious, such as misleading cure claims or "digital mass solicitation": 6 to 12 months' suspension.
5. Repeated: removal from the register for 1 to 3 years.

A show-cause notice comes first (10.2), and the order must give reasons (10.3). You can appeal to the Ethics and Medical Registration Board within 60 days (11.1), with a second appeal possible after that (11.4). Clinics are dealt with under the Clinical Establishments Act or state law, but a doctor who personally approved the content can still be examined separately (11.5).

What is still unclear#

Whether Google Maps reviews count as "social media", whether YouTube ad income counts as "monetized through promotional marketing", where a website photo becomes self-advertisement, and how joint pages with dentists or AYUSH colleagues should work. NMC can issue clarifications and SOPs (clause 12), and we will update this page when it does. For what else a clinic site needs, see our clinic website guide.

This is a general guide, not legal advice. Check the NMC notice and your State Medical Council for anything specific to your practice.

Information as of 8 October 2026.