The disclosure rules, and what happens if you skip them

This is the rule most Indian creators know exists and almost nobody has read. It is short, and getting it wrong is expensive in a way that does not show up for months.

The rule in one sentence

If you got money, a product, a discount, a trip, a free service, or anything else of value, the post has to say so, in a way a normal person sees without doing anything.

That is the Advertising Standards Council of India's influencer guideline. It applies whether the brand asked you to post or not, and whether you were paid in cash or in a parcel.

What counts as "anything of value"

Wider than people expect:

• Cash, obviously
• A free product you keep, whether or not you were asked to post
• A discount code for yourself
• A free stay, a free meal, a flight, an event ticket
• Free access to a paid service
• Affiliate commission on sales you drive

The last one surprises people. If you earn a commission when your audience buys, that is a material connection and it belongs in the disclosure.

The words that work

Use a plain one:

Advertisement · Ad · Sponsored · Paid promotion · Paid partnership · Collaboration · Employee · Free gift

These do not do the job on their own, however common they are:

• Ambassador and brand ambassador
• Thanks to [brand] or thanks [brand] for sending
• Collab with, used without the word collaboration standing on its own
• In association with
• #sp, #spon, or anything shortened to the point where a reader has to know the convention
• Just tagging the brand

English is fine for an audience that reads English. If your caption is in Hindi, the disclosure should be in Hindi, in the same language the post is in.

Where the label goes, by format

The principle is that nobody should have to work to find it.

Two failures do most of the damage. A label in the twelfth hashtag at the bottom of a caption, and a label on screen for half a second at the end of a reel. Both are technically present and neither is a disclosure.

The platform's own "Paid partnership" tool counts, and it is the easiest route when the brand sets it up, but check it is actually applied rather than assumed.

Who is liable

Both of you, separately.

The brand is responsible for advertising it pays for. You are responsible as the endorser. ASCI's guidance expects an influencer to have actually used a product before recommending it, and to have reason to believe the claims they repeat are true.

That last part is the one creators underestimate. If a brand gives you a script claiming a cream removes pigmentation in a week, repeating it on camera is your claim as well as theirs. Ask for the evidence, and if there is not any, say the thing you can stand behind instead.

What actually happens if you skip it

Three layers, in increasing order of how much they will bother you.

ASCI. A complaint is taken up, you are asked to respond, and if it is upheld you are asked to withdraw or correct the post. Outcomes are published. It is self-regulatory, so the direct consequence is modest and the reputational one is not.

The CCPA. Misleading advertising is also a matter for the Central Consumer Protection Authority under the Consumer Protection Act, where penalties reach Rs 10 lakh and more for repeat offences, and an endorser can be barred from making endorsements for a period.

The brand. The one that affects you first. A brand whose campaign gets flagged does not usually argue with you. They just do not come back, and they mention it to the agency.

The practical version

Four habits and you never think about this again:

1. Put the label in the first line of the caption, every time, before you think about whether this one counts.
2. Put it on the video too, on screen, for the first three seconds, large enough to read on a phone.
3. Use the platform's paid partnership tag when the brand offers it, and check it rendered.
4. Keep the brief. If a brand gave you claims to repeat, keep the email. If it goes wrong, the question will be what you were told and when.

The other obligation on the same parcel

A gifted product triggers two separate things, and creators usually remember one. The disclosure is advertising law. The tax is Section 194R, which makes the value of that product taxable income and requires the brand to deduct 10% TDS.

They are unrelated rules that arrive in the same box. What the free product actually costs you, and a calculator for the number.

---

This describes the guidelines as they stand in October 2026 and is not legal advice. ASCI publishes its influencer guidelines in full and they are short enough to read in one sitting; if a campaign involves health, financial or children's products, the extra rules on those are worth reading too.