India’s influencer economy takes baby steps towards self-regulation

A newly formed self-regulating body for content creators and influencers has introduced a code of standards for the community, meeting a much-required industry need following a recent spate of controversies.

The Indian Influencer Governance Council’s guidelines, however, aren’t legally binding on India’s more than 4 million content creators the group represents.

IIGC’s code of standards comprises 20 sections covering some key challenges India’s influencer industry faces, including payment compliances, authenticity of the products being promoted, and emerging challenges such as artificial intelligence, or AI, influencers.

The council said its code of standards “establishes a guided framework for influencers, ensuring that their content is legal, honest, transparent, and respectful of societal values”. That last aspect—societal values—has been a hot topic recently following YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia’s comments that triggered a government crackdown.

Specialised content creators such as financial influencers, or finfluencers, have also come under regulatory scrutiny in India for potentially misleading investors.

IIGC said in its standards document that it “aims to protect consumer interests, uphold responsible content creation, and promote fairness in influencer marketing while preventing misleading or harmful messaging”.

“The code is not legally binding but a self-regulatory framework,” said Ishan Johri, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co.

“While existing laws governing advertising content adequately address current issues as broad principles, industry self-regulation assists in approaching these regulations in a more nuanced and practical manner. Therefore, this code of standards is a step in the right direction and will provide influencers practical guidance on compliance with laws,” Johri said.

Gauhar Mirza, partner at Cyril Amarchand who specialises in tech law, said IICG’s code addressed “the exact problems with the industry and now as a society, the guiding principle can become bylaws for its members to follow”.

IIGC’s board comprises brand heads of companies such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, Swiggy, and Lenskart; representatives of Instagram and WhatsApp-owner Meta Platforms and Google, and some marketing agencies and influencers.

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‘No one-size-fits-all’

Some influencers argued for more influencer representation on IIGC’s panel.

“There are not a lot of influencers on the board. Just a handful. How can an influencer governing body be formed without all kinds of influencers represented as members?,” asked Mohit Mamoria, who runs a brain games and quizzing channel on YouTube called ‘Arey Pata Hai’, which has more than 800,000 subscribers.

Limited influencer participation in the industry body would mean limited representation for small content creators, said others.

“With millions of influencers spanning urban trendsetters to rural storytellers, a one-size-fits-all framework risks missing the mark, particularly for nano and micro creators who may lack the resources to comply with such extensive guidelines,” said Shudeep Majumdar, co-founder and chief executive of, Zefmo Media, an influencer marketing agency.

“We also wonder about the process. Without visible consensus from the full spectrum of industry stakeholders, the code’s legitimacy could be questioned,” Majumdar added.

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For influencers and brands alike

IIGC’s founding members said the code was only the beginning of a longer stretch towards formalising India’s entire influencer ecosystem.

“This is just the first of a series of announcements we are working on and by mid-June you will have more clarity on the other guidelines we are setting up for marketers and also the intermediaries (such as Meta and Google),” said Sahil Chopra, chairman and a founding member of IIGC.

To Mint’s query on how the industry body planned to deal with content creators violating its guidelines, he said brands associated with IIGC may decline to work with such influencers. That said, IIGC will take suggestions from all industry stakeholders via regular meet-ups and improve the guidelines, said Chopra, who is also the founder of adtech agency iCubesWire.

“The code is not just guidelines for influencers to adhere to but a formal mechanism at the centre of the industry that the entire ecosystem, including the marketers and agencies, will follow,” said Ayush Guha, IIGC board member and business head of talent management agency Hypp. “For instance, if there are defunct brands or agencies that delay or don’t pay, they will be marked as a cautious agency to work with. It’s for the influencers to have a course of action on paper so they get paid on time.”

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