A post in India needs a disclosure label whenever a brand gave you anything of value for it, and ASCI's guideline names exactly ten labels that count. Money is only one trigger. A free product, a discount, a hotel stay, a contest entry, a barter deal, even a parcel you never asked for: all of these create what the guideline calls a material connection, and a material connection means a label.
That is the rule read from the source. It matters because most creators meet it second-hand, and the second-hand versions have been drifting. Several 2026 write-ups now describe rules the published guideline does not contain, and a creator following those will be doing extra work while still missing the parts that are actually enforced.
This post goes through the guideline as ASCI publishes it, with its 17 August 2023 addendum, then the timing rules, then who is liable and for how much, then what ASCI found when it checked 1,173 influencer ads last year.
Which posts need a disclosure label?
Any post where a material connection exists between you and the advertiser. The guideline defines that connection as anything that "may affect the weight or credibility" of what you say, and then lists what it includes: monetary or other compensation, free products with or without conditions, products received unsolicited, discounts, gifts, contest and sweepstakes entries, trips or hotel stays, media barters, coverage, awards, and any family or employment relationship.
Two clauses catch creators out. First, disclosure is required even if your review is honest and entirely your own words, so long as the connection exists. Second, if a brand sends you a product and you mention any of its products, the label is required even if nobody asked you to talk about that product.
The one clean exemption: you bought it yourself, there is no connection to the brand, and you happen to like it. That is not an advertisement and needs no label. Since 15 July 2021, if a brand or creator disputes that a post is an ad, ASCI asks for a signed declaration from a senior person at the advertiser that no connection existed on the date of the post, or a proof of purchase from the creator where the brand cannot be traced.
We covered the barter side of this in our guide to barter collaborations in India. The short version is the same: free product is a material connection, full stop.
Which disclosure labels does ASCI allow?
Ten, and the guideline says any one or more of them can be used:
- Advertisement
- Ad
- Sponsored
- Collaboration
- Partnership
- Employee
- Free gift
- Affiliate
- The "Paid Partnership" tag on Instagram
- The "Includes Paid Promotion" tag on YouTube
The label can be in English or in the language of the post, as long as an average viewer would understand it. Using the platform's own tool counts, but the guideline says it should be considered in addition to your own label, not instead of it.
Where the label sits matters as much as which word you pick. The guideline says disclosures are "likely to be missed" if they appear only on a profile page or bio, at the end of a post or video, anywhere that needs a tap on "more", or buried in a group of hashtags or links. So a #ad as the fourteenth hashtag under a fold does not comply, even though it is technically one of the ten words.
How long must the label stay on a reel or story?
Three bands, by length of video. These apply whenever the post is a picture or video without accompanying text, which is most stories, and the guideline requires the label to be superimposed on the visual itself in that case.
For a 30-second reel that means the label stays on screen for 10 seconds. For a 90-second reel, 30 seconds. For a 4-minute YouTube video where the brand is discussed from minute one to minute two, the label stays for that full minute.
Two formats have their own rule. In a live stream, the disclosure is announced at the start and the end, and if the stream stays up afterwards the caption needs a label added. For audio, such as a podcast, the disclosure is spoken at the beginning, at the end, and before and after every break.
Who is liable when a label is missing?
Both the creator and the brand, and the money comes from a different body than most creators think.
ASCI's guideline, clause 1.5, places responsibility for the disclosure and for the content of the ad on the advertiser as well as the influencer. The advertiser is expected to ask the creator to edit or delete a post that does not comply. ASCI itself is a self-regulatory body: it investigates, publishes findings, and asks for the ad to be modified or withdrawn. It does not fine anyone.
The fines sit with the Central Consumer Protection Authority under the Consumer Protection Act 2019. Its Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements, issued 9 June 2022, and the Department of Consumer Affairs' "Endorsement Know-hows" booklet of 20 January 2023 set out what an endorser owes. The penalty for a misleading advertisement is up to Rs 10 lakh, and up to Rs 50 lakh for a subsequent violation. The CCPA can also bar an endorser from making any endorsement for up to one year, extendable to three years for repeat contraventions.
You will see the Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50 lakh figures attributed to ASCI in a lot of circulating content. They are Consumer Protection Act figures. The practical difference: an ASCI finding is public and embarrassing, a CCPA order is a legal penalty, and a post that breaks the disclosure rule can trigger either or both.
What did ASCI find when it checked influencers in 2025?
That the rules are widely ignored, and by the biggest names most of all.
ASCI's Half-Yearly Complaints Report for April to September 2025, published 11 November 2025, says it investigated 1,173 influencer advertisements and 98 percent required modification. Nearly 59 percent promoted products that are disallowed by law, and ASCI notes that illegal betting ads often arrive disguised as gaming promotions or influencer collaborations. And 76 percent of India's top digital stars, as per the Forbes list, were found in violation of the disclosure norms required by ASCI and the CCPA.
The same report says voluntary compliance among influencers reached 90 percent once a violation was pointed out. ASCI's own reading of that gap is blunt: many creators count on their violations not being spotted at all. Digital media carried 97 percent of all violations in the period, with Meta platforms alone at 78.9 percent, so the surveillance is aimed squarely at Instagram and Facebook.
For a creator building a career, the number that matters is the 76 percent. If the people with the most to lose are getting this wrong, a mid-size creator who gets it right has a genuine point of difference to put in front of brands, and our post on how brands actually shortlist creators explains why compliance is starting to appear on that list.
Health and finance creators have an extra rule
Since the addendum of 17 August 2023, creators giving advice or promoting products in two categories must hold and state a qualification.
For banking, financial services and insurance: anyone discussing stocks or investments must be registered with SEBI and state the registration number with their name and qualifications. For other financial advice, a suitable qualification such as an IRDAI licence, CA or CS. For health and nutrition: a relevant qualification such as a medical degree, or certification as a nurse, nutritionist, dietician, physiotherapist or psychologist, depending on the advice.
The qualification has to be disclosed upfront: superimposed on the visual or spoken as the opening line of a video, stated before the reader starts a text post, and called out at the beginning of any audio. ASCI can ask for proof. A creator who talks about skincare ingredients, protein intake or mutual funds is inside this addendum whether or not they think of themselves as a health or finance influencer.
The disclosure line to put in every brief
Disclosure is easiest when it is agreed before the content exists. Add this to the brief, or ask the brand to add it:
- Which of the ten labels will be used, and in which language.
- Where it sits: caption first line, superimposed on the story, or both.
- How long it stays on screen, worked out from the reel length using the three bands.
- Whether the platform's Paid Partnership tag is on as well.
- For a live or audio format, that the disclosure is spoken at the start and end.
- For health or finance content, the creator's qualification and how it will be shown.
That is six lines in a brief that already exists. Our 11-point influencer brief for India has the rest of the template, and a brand that pushes back on any of these six is telling you something about how they treat the rest of the deal terms too.
A label costs nothing to add and a missing one is the single most common thing ASCI finds. Get it in the brief, get it on the screen, and the rule stops being a risk and starts being a reason brands prefer you.
The other thing brands prefer is a creator whose rate and proof are visible before the first message. A creator profile on Qolab is free and puts your public rate card, your Qolab Score and your city in front of brands searching by niche, with the payment held before you start any deal.
