Advertising Law in India : What Brands Need to Know

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Introduction

Advertising in India is governed by a layered framework of statutes, regulations, self-regulatory codes, and sector-specific guidelines that collectively define what brands can and cannot communicate to consumers. This framework has evolved significantly over the past several years, driven by the growth of digital advertising, the expansion of influencer marketing, increasing regulatory scrutiny of misleading claims, and heightened consumer protection enforcement by the Central Consumer Protection Authority.

For brands operating in India in 2026, understanding the advertising law framework is not optional compliance box-ticking. The consequences of non-compliant advertising include product recalls, mandatory disclaimer requirements, takedown orders for digital content, financial penalties, criminal prosecution of company officers in serious cases, and reputational damage that can outlast any regulatory penalty. Several high-profile enforcement actions in recent years against brands making misleading health, financial, and product performance claims have demonstrated that regulators are prepared to act decisively and publicly against non-compliant advertising.

This guide covers the key statutes, regulatory bodies, self-regulatory frameworks, and sector-specific requirements that Indian brands need to understand in 2026, with particular attention to digital advertising, influencer marketing, and the categories of claims most frequently attracting regulatory scrutiny.

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The Regulatory Framework: Who Governs Advertising in India

The Central Consumer Protection Authority

The Central Consumer Protection Authority, established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, is the most significant regulatory development for advertising compliance in India in recent years. The CCPA has broad powers to take action against unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements, including the power to:

Issue directions to the advertiser, manufacturer, or endorser to discontinue a misleading advertisement.

Impose penalties on advertisers for misleading advertisements, with penalties up to Rs. 10 lakh for a first contravention and up to Rs. 50 lakh for subsequent contraventions.

Prohibit the endorser of a misleading advertisement from making endorsements for up to one year for a first contravention and up to three years for subsequent contraventions.

File complaints before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission for relief on behalf of consumers.

The CCPA has been active in issuing notices and directions to brands across sectors including food and beverages, health supplements, financial services, and educational institutions, establishing its willingness to use these powers against established brands.

The Advertising Standards Council of India

The Advertising Standards Council of India is the self-regulatory body for advertising in India, operating a code of self-regulation for advertising content. The ASCI Code requires that advertisements be truthful and honest, be non-offensive to public decency, and not be hazardous or harmful to individuals or society. The ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council reviews complaints against advertisements and issues recommendations to modify or withdraw non-compliant advertisements.

While ASCI decisions are not legally binding in the way that CCPA directions are, they are influential and non-compliance with ASCI decisions can be referenced by the CCPA and other regulators in enforcement actions. ASCI has also published specific guidelines for digital and influencer advertising that are widely followed in the industry.

Sector-Specific Regulators

Beyond the CCPA and ASCI, several sector-specific regulators have advertising oversight functions relevant to their respective industries:

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India regulates advertising for food products, including requirements for claims made about nutritional content, health benefits, and product composition.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India regulates advertising by entities in the securities market, including mutual funds, stockbrokers, and investment advisors.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India regulates advertising by insurance companies and intermediaries.

The Reserve Bank of India has guidelines relevant to advertising by banks and non-banking financial companies.

The Ministry of AYUSH has guidelines for advertising of Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, and homeopathic products.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has regulations relevant to advertising by telecom service providers.

The Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 regulate advertising for drugs, cosmetics, and products making medical or magical remedy claims.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and Misleading Advertisements

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 defines a misleading advertisement as any advertisement that falsely describes a product or service, gives a false guarantee or warranty, or is likely to mislead consumers regarding the nature, substance, quality, quantity, or other characteristics of the product or service. The definition is broad and covers not only outright false claims but also technically true claims that create a misleading overall impression.

The Act holds not only advertisers but also endorsers responsible for misleading advertisements, where the endorser had undertaken due diligence regarding the product or service being endorsed. This provision has significant implications for celebrity endorsers and influencers, who can no longer claim ignorance of a product’s characteristics as a complete defence for endorsing misleading claims about it.

The CCPA Guidelines on Prevention of Misleading Advertisements 2022

Key Requirements of the Guidelines

The CCPA issued Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022, which provide detailed requirements for advertising content and endorsement practices. The key requirements include:

Advertisements must not make claims that cannot be substantiated. Any claim about a product or service’s characteristics, performance, benefits, or comparisons with competing products must be capable of being supported by evidence at the time the advertisement is published.

Free claims in advertisements must accurately reflect what is being offered. Where conditions, limitations, or strings are attached to a free offer, these must be disclosed clearly and prominently in the advertisement itself, not buried in fine print.

Bait advertising, meaning advertising products or services at a price or on terms that the advertiser does not genuinely intend to supply in meaningful quantities, is prohibited.

Surrogate advertising, meaning advertising for products whose direct advertising is prohibited or restricted, such as alcohol or tobacco, through advertisements for seemingly different products using the same brand name, is addressed and restricted.

Disclaimers must be legible, understandable, and placed in a manner that is visible to the target audience. Disclaimers that contradict or are inconsistent with the main message of the advertisement are insufficient to save a misleading advertisement.

Endorsement Requirements

The 2022 Guidelines impose specific requirements on endorsers, including that endorsers must have actually used or experienced the product or service being endorsed, endorsers must not endorse products or services they know to contain misleading claims, and endorsers must disclose any material connection with the advertiser, including payment, free products, or other benefits received in exchange for the endorsement.

Digital Advertising and Influencer Marketing Compliance

ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Advertising

ASCI issued specific guidelines for influencer advertising on digital media that require influencers to clearly and prominently disclose when content is paid, sponsored, gifted, or otherwise involves a material relationship with a brand. The disclosure must be made at the beginning of the content where it is video, or clearly visible at the start of the post where it is text or image-based, using labels such as AD, Sponsored, Paid Partnership, or Collaboration.

Disclosures that are buried in hashtag lists, placed after extensive content where a viewer would have to scroll or continue watching to find them, or made in a language different from the main content of the post, are not considered compliant disclosures under ASCI’s framework.

The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020

The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 impose specific transparency requirements on e-commerce entities that are relevant to advertising on their platforms, including requirements to not manipulate prices to gain unreasonable profit, to not make false representations about products, and to ensure that advertisements comply with the Consumer Protection Act.

Digital Advertising Alliance and Data-Driven Advertising

Behavioural and targeted digital advertising, where advertisements are served to users based on their browsing history, online behaviour, and inferred preferences, is subject to the requirements of India’s data protection framework. As India’s data protection legislation and its implementing rules have developed, compliance obligations around the use of personal data for advertising targeting purposes have become more specific and more enforceable.

Brands and their advertising agencies using data-driven targeting for digital campaigns should ensure their data collection, processing, and targeting practices comply with applicable data protection requirements, including obtaining appropriate consents from users whose data is used for advertising personalisation.

Category-Specific Advertising Restrictions

Food and Beverage Advertising

FSSAI regulations and guidelines impose specific requirements on food and beverage advertising, including restrictions on:

Health claims, meaning claims that a food product reduces the risk of a disease or condition, which are restricted to claims that have been approved by FSSAI and are substantiated by scientific evidence.

Nutrition claims, meaning claims about the nutritional content of a food product, which must be accurate and comply with FSSAI’s labelling and claims standards.

Advertising of foods high in fat, salt, and sugar to children, which is subject to specific restrictions under FSSAI’s framework for protection of children from misleading food advertising.

Misleading comparisons with other food products or with previous versions of the same product, which must be accurate and verifiable.

Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Advertising

The Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 impose strict restrictions on advertising for drugs and medical products, including prohibitions on advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers and restrictions on claims of cure, treatment, or prevention of specified diseases.

Healthcare providers, hospitals, and medical practitioners are subject to advertising guidelines from the Medical Council of India and related regulatory bodies that restrict certain forms of promotional communication.

Health supplement and nutraceutical advertising occupies a contested regulatory space, with products sometimes making implied health claims that fall short of the drug advertising prohibitions but that nonetheless attract FSSAI and CCPA scrutiny where the claims are misleading.

Financial Services Advertising

SEBI, IRDAI, and RBI each have specific guidelines for advertising by entities under their respective jurisdictions. Common requirements across financial services advertising include:

Risk disclosures must be clear, prominent, and not contradicted by the overall tone of the advertisement. For investment products, statements to the effect that past performance is not indicative of future results must be included where performance data is cited.

Return or yield claims must be accurate, based on defined calculation methodologies, and accompanied by appropriate context about the conditions under which those returns were achieved.

Comparative claims about competing financial products must be based on accurate, verifiable data and must not be misleading in their selection of comparison metrics.

Unsolicited financial advice or investment recommendations in advertising formats are subject to specific regulatory requirements depending on the nature of the product and the regulated status of the advertiser.

Educational Services Advertising

Educational institutions, coaching centres, and online learning platforms are subject to CCPA scrutiny and consumer protection requirements regarding advertising claims about placement records, salary packages achieved by graduates, pass rates in examinations, rankings, and accreditations.

The CCPA and consumer courts have seen a growing volume of complaints about misleading claims in educational advertising, and institutions that make specific, quantified claims about outcomes must be able to substantiate those claims with verifiable data.

Comparative Advertising: What Is Permitted

The Legal Framework for Comparative Advertising

Comparative advertising, where a brand’s advertisement directly or implicitly compares its product with a competitor’s product, is not prohibited under Indian law. However, comparative advertising is subject to the requirement that the comparison must be truthful, accurate, and not misleading.

Comparative advertising that makes false or misleading claims about a competitor’s product constitutes both a misleading advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act and potentially an actionable statement under the law of passing off or defamation depending on the nature of the claim. Additionally, using a competitor’s registered trademark in advertising without authorisation in a manner that suggests association, affiliation, or endorsement by the trademark owner is a trademark infringement issue.

What Comparative Advertising Must Not Do

Comparative advertisements must not denigrate or disparage a competitor’s brand, product, or service in a manner that goes beyond truthful comparison. The line between legitimate comparison and actionable denigration is not always clear, but advertising that uses a competitor’s trademark to suggest that the competitor’s product is unsafe, defective, or dishonest without verifiable substantiation crosses into denigration territory.

Comparative advertising must compare like with like, meaning the comparison must be made on equivalent specifications, price points, and conditions. A comparison that selects only the most favourable metric for the advertiser’s product against the least favourable metric for the competitor’s product, without disclosing the selectivity of the comparison, can constitute a misleading advertisement even if the individual data points cited are accurate.

Advertising to Children: Special Restrictions

The Heightened Standard for Child-Directed Advertising

Advertising directed at children is subject to heightened scrutiny under the ASCI Code and under food advertising regulations, reflecting the recognised vulnerability of children as an advertising audience. Key restrictions include:

Advertisements must not exert undue pressure on children or exploit their susceptibility to persuasion and their limited ability to evaluate commercial intent.

Advertisements must not create an impression that consumption of a product will confer physical, social, or other advantages that the product cannot actually deliver.

Food advertising directed at children must not promote products high in fat, salt, or sugar in a manner that encourages excessive consumption.

Advertising in children’s programming and on platforms primarily used by children is subject to specific placement and content restrictions.

Consequences of Non-Compliant Advertising

CCPA Enforcement Actions

The CCPA can act on its own initiative or on the basis of consumer complaints. The enforcement process can result in directions to discontinue or modify the advertisement, public notices identifying the advertiser and the non-compliant advertisement, financial penalties as described above, and referral to other regulatory bodies where the non-compliance also constitutes violations under their respective jurisdictions.

Consumer Court Proceedings

Individual consumers or consumer organisations can file complaints before consumer courts regarding misleading advertisements that have caused harm. A brand whose advertisement has misled consumers into purchasing a product that did not perform as advertised faces both the regulatory penalties under the CCPA framework and potential liability to individual consumers in consumer court proceedings.

Reputational and Commercial Consequences

Beyond formal regulatory and legal consequences, the reputational impact of a public enforcement action or consumer complaint upheld by ASCI can be significant. ASCI publishes its decisions publicly, and a finding that a brand’s advertisement is misleading becomes part of the public record that journalists, competitors, and consumers can reference.

Building an Advertising Compliance Process

Pre-Publication Review

Establishing a pre-publication review process for advertising content, particularly for claims about product performance, health benefits, financial returns, and comparisons with competitors, significantly reduces the risk of non-compliant advertisements reaching the market. The review should assess whether each material claim in the advertisement can be substantiated by available evidence, whether any disclosures required by regulation or the ASCI Code are present and prominent, and whether the overall impression created by the advertisement is consistent with the individual claims made.

Substantiation Files

Maintaining substantiation files for material claims made in advertising, meaning a file of the evidence that supports each claim, is both good practice and a practical necessity if a regulatory inquiry or complaint arises. A brand that receives a CCPA notice regarding an advertising claim and can immediately produce a substantiation file demonstrating the basis for the claim is in a significantly stronger position than one that needs to assemble the evidence after the notice is received.

Influencer Agreements

Brands that engage influencers for paid content must ensure that their influencer agreements include contractual obligations for the influencer to disclose the commercial relationship in all sponsored content, to use accurate and non-misleading claims about the brand’s products, and to comply with ASCI guidelines and applicable law. Including indemnity provisions that allocate responsibility for non-compliant content between the brand and the influencer provides a basis for addressing liability if non-compliant content is published.

For legal documentation including advertising compliance agreements, influencer contracts, and regulatory correspondence, We provides complete drafting and advisory services for businesses managing advertising compliance obligations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a brand be held responsible for misleading claims made by an influencer the brand engaged? Yes. The CCPA Guidelines and the Consumer Protection Act both contemplate liability for brands whose endorsed advertising contains misleading claims. A brand that engages an influencer and provides content, briefing, or approval for the influencer’s posts can be held responsible for misleading claims in that content, particularly where the brand had or should have had knowledge of the misleading nature of the claims. Influencer agreements that set out accurate claim requirements and that require pre-approval of content before publication reduce this risk.

What constitutes adequate disclosure for influencer advertising? ASCI requires that disclosures be clear, prominent, and in the same language as the content. Labels such as AD, Sponsored, Paid Partnership, or Collaboration placed at the very beginning of the post or in the first few seconds of a video, in a size and position that is clearly visible without additional interaction, are considered adequate. Disclosures in hashtags mixed with numerous other hashtags, placed at the end of lengthy captions, or visible only after the fold are not considered adequate under ASCI’s framework.

Are testimonials and customer reviews in advertising subject to any specific requirements? Yes. Testimonials used in advertising must be genuine, must reflect the actual experience of the person giving the testimonial, and must not be used in a way that creates a misleading impression about typical results or benefits. Fabricated testimonials, paid testimonials not disclosed as such, and testimonials that are selectively presented to create a misleading impression of typical customer outcomes, are all forms of misleading advertising under the Consumer Protection Act and the ASCI Code.

What is the position on surrogate advertising in India? Surrogate advertising, where a brand for a product whose direct advertising is restricted, such as alcohol or tobacco, promotes a different product under the same brand name primarily as a vehicle for brand recognition for the restricted product, is prohibited under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act and is addressed in the ASCI Code. The authorities look at whether the advertised product is genuine and commercially meaningful or whether it is essentially a device for advertising the restricted product. Brand extension products that are genuinely sold and marketed independently are treated differently from products that exist only or primarily for surrogate advertising purposes.

Does advertising law in India apply to advertising on international platforms such as Instagram and YouTube? Yes. Advertising by Indian brands directed at Indian consumers on international platforms is subject to Indian advertising law regardless of the platform on which it appears. The CCPA and ASCI have both addressed digital and social media advertising content, and the fact that the content appears on an international platform does not exempt it from Indian regulatory requirements. International platforms are increasingly cooperative with Indian regulatory bodies in addressing non-compliant advertising content on their platforms.

Conclusion

Advertising law in India in 2026 is a comprehensive and actively enforced framework that applies across traditional and digital media, covers brands, manufacturers, endorsers, and influencers, and carries meaningful financial and reputational consequences for non-compliance. The CCPA’s establishment and its active enforcement posture, combined with ASCI’s evolved digital advertising guidelines, have created an environment where brands can no longer treat advertising compliance as a peripheral concern.

The brands that manage advertising compliance most effectively are those that build it into the content creation and approval process from the outset, rather than treating it as a review to be conducted after the fact. Substantiating claims before they are made, ensuring disclosures are prominent and honest, applying the same truthfulness standards to digital content that apply to traditional advertising, and maintaining appropriate contractual frameworks with influencers and endorsers are the practical foundations of a compliant advertising programme.

Substantiate every material claim before publishing. Ensure disclosures for paid content are prominent and clear. Apply ASCI and CCPA standards to digital content as rigorously as to traditional media. Maintain substantiation files for regulatory inquiries. And build advertising compliance review into the content approval process rather than retrofitting it after publication.

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Anjali Pandey

Anjali is a Digital Marketing Expert at Quick Startup India  who builds websites that rank and convert. She specializes in SEO-driven web development, helping people find the right legal help online.