Can a BAMS, BHMS or BUMS doctor open a clinic? Registration, scope of practice and display rules under the NCISM and NCH Acts.

Yes. A BAMS, BUMS, BSMS or BHMS doctor enrolled in a State Register or the National Register can open a clinic and practise their own system. The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020 covers Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa; the National Commission for Homoeopathy Act, 2020 covers Homoeopathy. Prescribing allopathic medicines is a different question: the Supreme Court has tied it to what your state's law confers, so the honest answer is "only if your state's law allows it, and check in writing". Surgery has its own limits, set out below.

Which law registers BAMS, BUMS, BSMS and BHMS doctors?

Two Acts passed in September 2020 replaced the older central councils. Section 2(h) of the NCISM Act defines "Indian System of Medicine" as "the Ashtang Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa Systems of Medicine supplemented by such modern advances, scientific and technological development as the Commission may, in consultation with the Central Government, declare by notification from time to time". Section 2(f) of the NCH Act defines Homoeopathy in the same pattern and "includes the use of biochemic remedies".

Under both Acts you register first with a State Medical Council for your system, kept in a State Register, with a National Register maintained by each commission's Board of Ethics and Registration. Section 31 of each Act asks every state to set up such a council within three years if it has none; until then, complaints go to the national Board. Doctors registered under the old Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 or the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973 are deemed registered under the new Acts (proviso to section 33(1) of each).

What does each Act allow you to practise?

Section 34(1) of the NCISM Act reserves four things for enrolled practitioners: to "practice Indian System of Medicine as a qualified practitioner", to hold office as a physician or surgeon, to sign or authenticate a medical or fitness certificate required by law, and to give expert evidence in court on matters of Indian medicine. Section 34(1) of the NCH Act says the same for Homoeopathy. Under section 34(2) of both, practising without enrolment can bring up to one year in prison, a fine of up to ₹5 lakh, or both.

The two Acts differ in their savings clauses. Section 34(3)(b) of the NCISM Act says nothing in that section affects "the privileges, including the right to practice any system of medicine, conferred by or under any law for the time being in force in a State on the practitioners of Indian System of Medicine enrolled in the State register of that State". Section 34(3) of the NCH Act has two savings clauses, for practitioners already on a State Register and for those who practised for five years in a state without a register; neither mentions other systems of medicine.

Can a BAMS or BHMS doctor prescribe allopathic medicines?

The leading judgment is Dr. Mukhtiar Chand & Ors v. State of Punjab & Ors, decided by Justices K.T. Thomas and Syed Shah Mohammed Quadri on 8 October 1998. It reads the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 with the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 and concludes there is "no scope for a person enrolled on the State Register of Indian medicine or Central Register of Indian Medicine to practise modern scientific medicine in any of its branches unless that person is also enrolled on a State Medical Register within the meaning of 1956 Act."

The court also explained what the "modern advances" in the definition of Indian medicine permit: practitioners may "make use of the modern advances in various sciences such as Radiology Report, (x-ray), complete blood picture report, lipids report, E.C.G., etc. for purposes of practising in their own system." It rejected the argument that prescribing is separate from practising: "the right to prescribe allopathic drug cannot be wholly divorced from the claim to practice allopathic medicine."

Then the exception. State declarations under rule 2(ee)(iii) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules were held valid, but the court said their benefit "would be available only in those States where the privilege of such right to practise any system of medicine is conferred by the State Law under which practitioners of Indian Medicine are registered in the State". The rule as quoted in the judgment covers a person registered in a medical register "other than a register for the registration of Homeopathic practitioners". That carve-out is why the homoeopathy answer can differ from the Ayurveda one.

The 1956 Act has since been replaced by the NMC Act, 2019. The NMC applies the 2002 conduct regulations, whose regulation 1.1.3 says: "A person obtaining qualification in any other system of Medicine is not allowed to practice Modern system of Medicine in any form." For homoeopaths, regulation 36(y) of the NCH's 2022 conduct regulations lists as misconduct a practitioner who "practices, any other system of medicine other than Homoeopathy", with a proviso for work under the National Health Programme and other government programmes after recognised training. The NCH's 2026 circular on malpractice lists "Practising cross-pathy without disclosure as prescribing medicines of other systems secretly" among prohibited acts.

Can a BAMS doctor do surgery?

The only surgical list we found in the regulations is for postgraduates. The Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Amendment Regulations, 2020, dated 19 November 2020 and published in the Gazette on 20 November 2020, insert regulation 10(9) into the 2016 PG regulations: "During the period of study, the PG scholar of Shalya and Shalakya shall be practically trained to acquaint with as well as to independently perform the following activities so that after completion of his PG degree, he is able to perform the following procedures independently".

The list follows under two headings, MS (Ayurved) Shalya Tantra (general surgery) and MS (Ayurved) Shalakya Tantra (eye, ear, nose, throat, head and oro-dentistry). It applies to MS (Ayurved) degree holders in those two branches, not to a BAMS degree alone. We found no equivalent list for BAMS graduates, Unani, Siddha or Homoeopathy. If you plan any procedure in your clinic, ask your council what your registered qualification covers, and check your state's clinical establishments standards for the room.

How should you write your name, degree and "Dr." on the board?

For Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, the NCISM still publishes the Practitioners of Indian Medicine (Standards of Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Code of Ethics) Regulations, 1982 on its rules page. Regulation 25: "It shall be compulsory for a practitioner of Indian medicine to affix the correct degree or diploma before or after his name." Regulation 32(1)(vii) calls it improper to use "an unusually large signboard and write on it anything other than his name, qualifications obtained from a University or a statutory body, titles and name of his speciality", and says the same should appear on prescription papers.

For Homoeopathy, the National Commission for Homoeopathy (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Code of Ethics for Practitioners of Homoeopathy) Regulations, 2022 were published in the Gazette on 14 December 2022. Regulation 7(2) asks the practitioner to display the registration number in the clinic and on every prescription. Regulation 7(3) says a practitioner whose qualification is in the Second or Third Schedule to the 1973 Act or the NCH's list of recognised qualifications "may use "Dr." as prefix before his or her name." Regulation 36(q) makes it misconduct to claim "to be a specialist without possessing a special qualification listed by the Commission in the branch concerned".

Do clinic registration and bio-medical waste rules apply to AYUSH clinics?

Yes. Section 2(h) of the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 defines a "recognised system of medicine" as "Allopathy, Yoga, Naturopathy, Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Siddha and Unani System of medicines or any other system of medicine as may be recognised by the Central Government". Section 2(c) covers a clinic offering diagnosis or treatment "in any recognised system of medicine", including one managed by "a single doctor". The Act applies in the states and union territories that adopted it; other states run their own laws. Our clinic registration guide shows which law applies in your state.

Rule 2(1) of the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 applies to everyone who generates bio-medical waste, "including hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, dispensaries" and "ayush hospitals". The NCH's 2026 circular separately lists "Running clinics, hospitals, or diagnostic centres without valid registration, recognition, or authorization" as a prohibited act for homoeopaths. Waste authorisation steps are in our bio-medical waste guide.

Are NEET and the exit exam required?

NEET is for admission. Section 14 of the NCISM Act provides a uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission to undergraduate courses in each discipline of Indian medicine, and section 14 of the NCH Act does the same for Homoeopathy. Section 15 of each Act provides a National Exit Test "for granting licence to practice" and for enrolment, operational from a date the Central Government notifies. Practitioners registered before it becomes operational are deemed registered under the proviso to section 33(1). Check the NCISM or NCH website for whether the exit test applies to your batch.

What is the start sequence for an AYUSH clinic?

1. Confirm your registration with your state board or council for your system, and keep the certificate and number ready for the board and letterhead.
2. Write down what you will and will not practise. If you intend to prescribe outside your system, get your state board's written position first.
3. Register the clinic under your state's clinical establishments law, using our clinic registration guide.
4. Apply for bio-medical waste authorisation from the State Pollution Control Board.
5. Print the board, prescription pad and receipts with your correct degree and registration number.
6. Plan premises, staff and money with our guide on how to open a clinic in India. If you will share space with an MBBS doctor, read what an MBBS doctor may do too.