ASCI Guidelines (India)
Updated July 2026
ASCI guidelines are the Advertising Standards Council of India's rules requiring influencers and advertisers to clearly label promotional content with disclosures like #ad or #sponsored, India's counterpart to FTC endorsement rules.
The Advertising Standards Council of India issued influencer guidelines mandating that any content with a material connection — payment, free product, or commission — carry a prominent, upfront disclosure label that an average consumer would notice.
The rules specify that labels must be in a language the audience understands and placed where they are easily seen, not hidden. They apply to affiliate and paid content alike, making disclosure a compliance requirement for India-focused creator and affiliate campaigns.
Where ASCI Guidelines (India) sits in the affiliate cycle
The ASCI guidelines are India's share-stage disclosure rules, and they are notably more prescriptive than most about placement.
How ASCI Guidelines (India) actually works
The Advertising Standards Council of India publishes guidelines for influencer advertising in digital media. They require a disclosure label on any promotional post where a material connection exists, and they are unusually specific about how it must appear: prominent and hard to miss, in the same language as the post, and placed where the audience will see it without having to expand, scroll or click through.
They also address format directly. Guidance covers video and audio as well as text — including that a disclosure in a video should be visible long enough to be read, and that in a live stream it should be repeated periodically rather than mentioned once at the start.
What ASCI Guidelines (India) means for a creator
For creators with an Indian audience the practical difference from other markets is placement strictness. A label at the very start of the caption, before any more link, is the safe default rather than a cautious one.
Language matters here in a way it does not everywhere: a disclosure in English on a post written in another language does not communicate to the audience it is meant for.
What ASCI Guidelines (India) means for a brand
Brands running creator programmes in India are expected to ensure their partners disclose, so the program terms should carry the requirement and somebody should check live posts against it.
Supplying the approved label in the languages partners actually publish in removes the most common reason for non-compliance, which is usually inconvenience rather than intent.
Common mistakes with ASCI Guidelines (India)
Placing the label after a more link
Anything the audience has to expand to see is not prominent. On platforms that truncate captions, the label belongs before the cut.
Disclosing in a language the audience does not read
The guidance expects the disclosure in the same language as the post, because a label the audience cannot parse communicates nothing.
Disclosing once at the start of a long live stream
Viewers join partway through. Periodic repetition is what the guidance contemplates for live formats.
ASCI Guidelines (India): common questions
Do ASCI guidelines apply to affiliate links, not just paid posts?
The trigger is a material connection, and commission on a sale is one. An affiliate recommendation is within scope in the same way a paid post is.
Where exactly should the disclosure go?
Where the audience will see it without expanding, scrolling or clicking — which in practice means the start of a caption, an on-screen label in video, and periodic mention in live formats.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is a general summary, and the guidelines are updated from time to time. Check the current published text and take qualified advice for your own situation.
See also
- FTC Disclosure
An FTC disclosure is the clear, conspicuous statement a US creator or affiliate must make when they have a material connection to a brand — such as being paid or earning a commission — so audiences know the content is an ad or endorsement.
- Affiliate Disclosure
An affiliate disclosure is a clear notice telling readers that a link may earn the publisher a commission if they buy, required by the FTC and comparable regulators to keep affiliate recommendations transparent.
- Sponsored Post
A sponsored post is social or blog content a creator is paid to publish promoting a brand, which must be clearly disclosed as an ad under FTC and comparable rules.
- Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a strategy in which brands partner with creators who have engaged social audiences to promote products, paying through flat fees, free product, affiliate commissions, or a combination.
Sources
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