Influencer and Creator Disclosure Rules in India: A Brand's Checklist

In India, any creator or influencer who promotes a product or service and has a material connection with the brand, such as payment, free products, a barter deal or a business relationship, must disclose it clearly. Two sets of rules apply: the Department of Consumer Affairs’ “Endorsement Know-hows” released in January 2023, and the Advertising Standards Council of India’s guidelines for influencer advertising in digital media. This guide explains what counts as a material connection, which labels to use, where they must appear in posts, reels and live streams, and what brands should build into every collaboration.

Important: this is a plain-language summary for campaign planning, not legal advice. Brands and creators should check the current guidance and take legal advice on specific collaborations.

Who these rules apply to

The Department of Consumer Affairs’ Endorsement Know-hows apply to celebrities, influencers and virtual influencers: people with access to an audience and the power to affect their purchasing decisions or opinions because of their authority, knowledge, position or relationship with that audience (PIB release; Manorama Yearbook summary).

That includes large national creators, but also a Guwahati food blogger with a modest local following if a restaurant gave them a free meal for a review.

What counts as a “material connection”

ASCI’s guidelines describe a material connection as any relationship that could affect how the audience sees the endorsement, including (ASCI guidelines for influencer advertising, PDF):

• payment or any other monetary compensation
• free products or services, including gifted items
• barter arrangements
• affiliate marketing, where the creator earns from sales
• family, employment or business relationships with the brand

If any of these exist, the post needs a disclosure.

Which labels to use

The Endorsement Know-hows suggest clear terms such as “advertisement”, “sponsored”, “collaboration” or “paid promotion” (Manorama Yearbook summary). ASCI lists acceptable labels including Advertisement, Ad, Sponsored, Collaboration, Partnership, Employee and Free gift (Business Insider India report).

Use a label people will understand. Vague tags such as “#collab” buried among other hashtags, or “thanks to the brand”, don’t make the relationship clear.

Where the label must appear

Images and text posts

The Endorsement Know-hows say disclosures should be clear, prominent and hard to miss, and for pictures the disclosure should be superimposed on the image (Manorama Yearbook summary). ASCI’s guidance adds that the label should appear at the start of the caption, not hidden below the “more” fold, and not only in the bio or at the end (ASCI guidelines, PDF).

Videos and reels

Under the Endorsement Know-hows, disclosure for videos should be placed in the video itself and in the accompanying text (Manorama Yearbook summary). ASCI’s guidelines set minimum on-screen durations for the label in videos (ASCI guidelines, PDF):

Video length	Minimum time the label stays on screen
15 seconds or less	At least 3 seconds
More than 15 seconds and less than 2 minutes	At least one-third of the video’s length
2 minutes or more	The entire section in which the brand is mentioned

Live streams

The Endorsement Know-hows say the disclosure should be displayed continuously and prominently throughout a livestream, and ASCI’s guidance calls for it to be announced at the beginning and the end of a broadcast (Manorama Yearbook summary).

Audio and podcasts

The disclosure should be spoken clearly at the start, and repeated where the promotion appears.

Is Instagram’s “Paid partnership” tag enough?

Not necessarily. ASCI’s guidance notes that using a platform’s own disclosure tool may not by itself satisfy the disclosure requirement (ASCI guidelines, PDF). The safest approach is to use the platform’s Paid partnership label and a clear label at the start of the caption and on screen.

Extra rules for health and financial content

ASCI updated its influencer guidelines in 2023 for health and finance. Influencers giving health advice need relevant qualifications, such as a medical degree or certification as a nurse, nutritionist, dietitian, physiotherapist or psychologist, and must show those qualifications prominently at the start (ASCI press release, PDF). Clinics, hospitals, wellness brands and supplement brands should only work with qualified health creators for advice-style content.

Penalties and responsibility

Misleading endorsements are covered by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The Central Consumer Protection Authority can impose penalties of up to ₹10 lakh on manufacturers, advertisers and endorsers, rising to up to ₹50 lakh for subsequent contraventions, and can bar an endorser from making endorsements for up to one year, extendable to three years for repeat contraventions (Manorama Yearbook summary).

Brands shouldn’t assume disclosure is only the creator’s problem. The penalties can apply to advertisers as well as endorsers, and a brand’s reputation suffers when a hidden promotion is exposed.

Other things creators and brands should check

• Creators should have used the product they endorse, and shouldn’t make claims the brand itself couldn’t substantiate (Khaitan & Co. analysis).
• Disclosures should be in the language of the post. An Assamese reel shouldn’t rely on an English label buried in the caption.
• Filters and edits that exaggerate a product’s effect, especially for beauty and personal care products, can make an endorsement misleading.

A checklist for every brand collaboration

• Written agreement that requires disclosure in line with the Endorsement Know-hows and ASCI guidelines
• Clear label (“Ad”, “Sponsored”, “Collaboration”, “Paid partnership”) at the start of the caption
• Label on screen in videos for at least the minimum ASCI durations
• Platform Paid partnership tool used as well, not instead
• For gifted products, the “Free gift” or equivalent label used
• For health content, the creator’s qualifications shown upfront
• Brand claims in the script are true and can be substantiated
• Brand reviews the content before it’s published, and checks the live post
• Payment released only after the published post is checked for disclosure

We apply these rules to every creator campaign we arrange. See our Instagram marketing and social media marketing services for how that works in practice.

Sources

• PIB: Guidelines for celebrities, influencers and virtual influencers
• Govt issues guidelines for social media influencers (Manorama Yearbook)
• ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media (PDF)
• ASCI guidelines make it mandatory for influencers to label promotional content (Business Insider India)
• ASCI health and finance influencer guidelines update (PDF)
• Endorsement requirements for celebrities and influencers (Khaitan & Co.)