MiracleASCI influencer guidelines: how to label paid posts in India
A plain-English guide to India’s rules for influencer ads: when you must label a post, which labels work, where to put them, and special rules for health and finance creators.
In India, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has guidelines for influencer advertising, and the Department of Consumer Affairs has published endorsement guidelines along the same lines. The idea is simple: if a brand gave you something for the post, your audience should know at a glance.
This guide explains the main points in plain words. It isn’t legal advice, and rules are updated: check the latest on ascionline.in before a campaign.
When you must label a post
When there’s a “material connection” with the brand: they paid you, gave you a free product or trip, you’re in an affiliate programme, you work for them, or you have any other relationship that could affect how people see your post. Barter counts.
Labels that work
- #ad
- #collab
- #sponsored
- #partner or #partnership
- #freegift (for gifted products)
- Instagram’s “Paid partnership” label, alongside a clear label in the post
Labels like #sp, #spon, #thanks or #brandname alone aren’t enough: they aren’t clear to most people.
Where to put it
- Captions: in the first lines, visible without tapping “more”. Not buried in hashtags at the end.
- Videos and reels: a label in the video itself as well, where people can see it (overlaid on the video for long enough to read).
- Stories: a label on each story frame that’s part of the collab.
- Live streams: say it out loud, and show it on screen.
Special cases
- Health, nutrition and wellness creators giving advice should hold the relevant qualification and say so.
- Finance and investment creators giving investment advice should be registered with SEBI where required, and disclose it.
- Virtual influencers must say they aren’t a real person.
- Don’t make claims the brand can’t back up (“cures acne in a week”), even if they ask.
What brands should do
Brands share the responsibility: they should ask creators to label posts and shouldn’t ask them to hide it.
Miracle checks a collab post when it goes live and flags it if it doesn’t look labelled as an ad, and its draft check looks for missing labels before you post.
Questions
Do I need to label barter collaborations?
Yes. A free product is a material connection, so label it (for example #freegift or #ad).
Is Instagram’s Paid partnership label enough?
Use it, and also add a clear label like #ad in the first lines of the caption or in the video.
What happens if I don’t label?
ASCI can ask you and the brand to change or take down the post, and repeated cases can be published.