Three details, one free government register, five minutes. Exactly what to check before you pay a deposit.
Three details, one free government register, five minutes. Exactly what to check before you pay a deposit.
Ask the clinic for the operating surgeon's full name, registration number and State Medical Council. Search that number on the NMC Indian Medical Register at nmc.org.in, confirm all three details match, then check the qualification listed and cross-check the State Medical Council's own register. It is free, needs no login, and takes about five minutes — do it before paying any deposit.
Key points :
You need three details, not one: name, registration number and State Medical Council — registration numbers can repeat across councils
The search is free and public on the NMC website; no login or fee is required
Registration proves a person is a licensed medical doctor. It does not prove hair transplant training or experience
NMC's 2022 guidelines say hair transplant should preferably be done by surgeons trained in plastic surgery or dermatology
A doctor missing from the online register is not automatically fake — older and recent records have gaps. Cross-check the state council
A clinic that will not give you a registration number has already answered your question.
NMC registration is the licence that allows a doctor to practise modern medicine in India. The National Medical Commission (NMC) replaced the Medical Council of India under the NMC Act, 2019. Section 31 of that Act requires the NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board to keep an electronic National Register of licensed practitioners, including their names, addresses and recognised qualifications.
In practice, a doctor is first registered with a State Medical Council — the Delhi Medical Council, the Maharashtra Medical Council, the Telangana State Medical Council and so on — and that registration feeds into the national record. The public can search it through the Indian Medical Register (IMR) on the NMC website.
It matters for a hair transplant because a hair transplant is surgery: incisions, local anaesthesia and permanent relocation of tissue. The NMC has stated that aesthetic procedures, including hair transplant, are not emergency surgery, so there is no justification for an untrained person to perform them. Checking registration is the one step that takes minutes and rules out the most dangerous category of provider entirely.
Three details, ideally in writing — on a WhatsApp message, email, consultation note or the clinic's website. Not read aloud over the phone.
Detail | Where to get it | Why you need it |
|---|---|---|
Full registered name | Prescription, letterhead, clinic website doctor page | Doctors often practise under a shortened name; the register uses the full one |
Registration number | Prescriptions and letterheads should carry it; otherwise ask directly | The most reliable search key |
State Medical Council | Printed next to the number (e.g. "DMC", "MMC") | The same number can exist in more than one council |
Postgraduate degree | Ask: "What is your MS/MD/MCh/DNB in, and from which university?" | Tells you whether the doctor has surgical or dermatological training |
Ask for these for the surgeon who will operate on you — not the clinic's founder, not the doctor in the advertisement, and not the counsellor you met. If you are unsure who that is, our guide to doctor-led vs technician-led hair transplant explains the question to ask.
Get the three details in writing. Name - registration number and State Medical Council, for the operating surgeon specifically.
Open the official register. Go to nmc.org.in → Information Desk → Indian Medical Register. Type the address yourself rather than clicking a link a clinic has sent you — several lookalike sites mimic the register's layout.
Search by registration number first. Choose the registration-number option - enter it exactly as printed, and select the State Medical Council if the form allows. Searching by name alone often returns many doctors with the same name.
Open the record and match every field - A record typically shows the doctor's name, parent's name, registration number, State Medical Council, year of registration, qualification, university and year of qualification. The name, number and council must all match what the clinic gave you. One mismatch is enough to stop and ask.
Read the qualification field - If it shows only MBBS, the doctor may still hold a postgraduate degree that was never added to the record — ask to see the postgraduate degree certificate and the council's additional-qualification entry.
Check the blacklist section - The Indian Medical Register page includes a separate "Black List Doctor" search. Run the name there too.
Cross-check the State Medical Council's own register - State registers are often more current than the national search, and some councils show whether a registration has been renewed.
Confirm the person matches the paperwork - At the consultation, check the name on the prescription or letterhead matches the record. If the doctor you meet and the doctor on the record are different people, ask why.
Screenshot the record with the date visible. It takes ten seconds and gives you something concrete to refer to if anything goes wrong later.
Registration proves the person is a licensed allopathic doctor. It proves nothing about their hair transplant skill. Most patients who check stop at "found", which is exactly where the useful checking begins.
The register CAN tell you | The register CANNOT tell you |
|---|---|
The person holds a recognised medical qualification | Whether they have trained specifically in hair restoration |
Which State Medical Council registered them, and when | How many hair transplants they have personally performed |
Qualifications the doctor has chosen to register | Which stages of your surgery they will perform themselves |
Whether a name appears in the blacklist search | Whether the clinic (the establishment) is registered or its OT is safe |
That the registration number is real | That the doctor you meet is the doctor who operates |
The NMC addressed this directly in its Guidelines on Aesthetic Surgery and Hair Transplant Procedures, dated 20 September 2022. It said hair transplant should "preferably be undertaken only by those who have surgical grooming", naming formal training such as MCh/DNB Plastic Surgery and MD/DNB Dermatology with adequate training in dermatosurgical procedures, and noting that hair transplantation is a core topic in those curricula.
Two things are worth reading carefully. First, the word is "preferably" — the guideline sets a strong expectation rather than a closed list. Second, the underlying principle the NMC gave is that a doctor's specialty curriculum should guide which procedures they undertake, and that anyone performing hair transplant must be adequately trained and have the infrastructure and staff to manage complications.
In July 2026, the Minister of State for Health told the Rajya Sabha that these guidelines exist to protect patient safety. Separately, the Ministry has clarified that oral and maxillofacial surgeons trained under the Dental Council's MDS regulations may perform selected hair restoration procedures limited to the cranio-maxillofacial region.
What this means for you:
Ask what the postgraduate degree is in, not just whether the doctor "is a surgeon"
If the degree is outside plastic surgery or dermatology, ask what formal hair restoration training they completed, where, and for how long
Ask how many procedures they have personally performed, and ask to see their own cases — not the clinic's
Dentists (BDS) are registered with the Dental Council, and AYUSH practitioners with their own commissions — they will not appear on the NMC register, and that is expected, not suspicious
Not necessarily — and you should not say so publicly until you know. The online register has well-documented gaps. Rule out the innocent explanations first, then look for the warning signs.
Innocent explanations | Genuine warning signs |
|---|---|
Older records that did not migrate cleanly from the MCI-era database | The clinic will not give a registration number at all |
Very recent registration still being processed | The number exists but belongs to a doctor with a different name |
Name spelled differently, initials, or a surname changed after marriage | The State Medical Council named does not match the record |
Wrong council selected in the search | The "surgeon" cannot name their postgraduate degree or university |
The portal is temporarily down (it happens) | The clinic becomes evasive or hostile when you ask |
What to do: search the State Medical Council register directly; try variations of the name; then go back to the clinic and ask, in writing, for a copy of the registration certificate. A genuine doctor can produce it in minutes. If something still does not add up, do not proceed — and if you believe someone is practising without registration, the appropriate route is a written complaint to the relevant State Medical Council, which regulates professional conduct in its state.
Use the NMC register first, then the council for the state where the doctor practises :
City | State Medical Council | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
Delhi NCR | Delhi Medical Council (delhimedicalcouncil.org) — Gurugram and Noida doctors may be registered in Haryana or Uttar Pradesh | The council's online doctor search; registration numbers are commonly prefixed "DMC" |
Mumbai | Maharashtra Medical Council | The council's official online register of practitioners |
Hyderabad | Telangana State Medical Council | The council's official online register of practitioners |
A doctor can hold registration in one state and practise in another after completing the relevant formalities, so a Delhi surgeon with an older registration from another state is not in itself a concern. Ask the clinic which council is current.
A valid registration number rules out the most dangerous provider. It does not tell you who will hold the punch on your surgery day. Once the registration checks out, the next three questions matter more:
"Is this registered surgeon the one who will perform my extraction and recipient site creation?"
"How many procedures are scheduled in the clinic on my day?"
"Will I meet this surgeon before the day of surgery?"
Ask all of this before paying a deposit. Once money has changed hands, the conversation changes too. Full pricing, with nothing hidden, is on our hair transplant cost page.
At Ryan Clinic, we publish our doctors' registration details — name, registration number and State Medical Council — so you can run every step of this check on us before you run it on anyone else.
[CONFIRM AND ADD — publish only what is accurate: each operating surgeon's full registered name, registration number, State Medical Council and postgraduate qualification with university; formal hair restoration training and where it was completed; years performing hair transplant; that the surgeon named at consultation is the surgeon who operates; that registration details are printed on every prescription and consent form.]
Free scalp analyses are available at our Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad centres.
Book a free scalp analysis — and bring your phone. We would rather you verify us in the consultation room than trust us.
Go to nmc.org.in, open the Indian Medical Register under Information Desk, and search by registration number with the State Medical Council selected. Confirm the name, number and council on the record all match what the clinic gave you. The search is free and needs no login.
Yes. The Indian Medical Register on the NMC website is free and publicly accessible, with no login, fee or account required. Anyone can search it by name, registration number, year of registration or State Medical Council.
NMC's 2022 guidelines say hair transplant should preferably be performed by doctors with formal surgical training such as MCh/DNB Plastic Surgery or MD/DNB Dermatology. Whatever the degree, ask what specific hair restoration training the surgeon has completed and how many procedures they have personally performed.
It is not automatically a sign of fraud. Older records, recent registrations and name variations can all cause gaps. Search the State Medical Council register directly, then ask the clinic in writing for the registration certificate. Do not proceed until the details match.
No. Registration proves someone is a licensed medical doctor. It does not show hair restoration training, surgical experience, or whether that doctor will personally perform your surgery. Treat registration as the minimum check, then ask about training, case numbers and which stages they perform.
Doctors are registered through State Medical Councils, and the same registration number can exist in more than one council. Always search with the council selected, and cross-check the council's own register, which is often more current than the national search.
Dentists and AYUSH practitioners are registered with their own councils, not the NMC. The Health Ministry has said oral and maxillofacial surgeons may perform selected hair restoration procedures limited to the cranio-maxillofacial region. For scalp hair transplant, NMC guidelines point to plastic surgery and dermatology training.
Complaints about a doctor's registration or professional conduct go to the State Medical Council for the state where they practise. Keep your evidence: screenshots of the register, the clinic's written details and receipts. Avoid public accusations until the council has looked at it.
For more on choosing a clinic, browse our more guides.
Sources
National Medical Commission, India — Indian Medical Register (public search, including blacklist search), nmc.org.in.
The National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (Act 30 of 2019), Section 31 — National Register.
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare — launch of the National Medical Register portal, 23 August 2024.
National Medical Commission — Guidelines on Aesthetic Surgery and Hair Transplant Procedures, letter dated 20.09.2022; as referenced in the Rajya Sabha reply of the Minister of State for Health, July 2026.
Delhi Medical Council — registration and live register under the Delhi Medical Council Act, 1997.
Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.
About the author Dr. Pranendra Singh is a hair restoration surgeon at Ryan Clinic, Delhi, specialising in Sapphire FUE. Read full profile →
Disclaimer: This article explains how patients can verify medical registration using public registers, in general terms. It does not describe, assess or make allegations about any named clinic or practitioner. Government portals change; confirm current procedures on the official NMC and State Medical Council websites. It is general information, not medical or legal advice.
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