Sexual Wellness Products in India: Law, Limits and Grey Areas

1. Introduction

   
   

   India’s sexual wellness market has seen robust growth with consumers seeking products to enhance intimacy and health. Yet, brands operating in this space must contend not only with cultural stigma but with a shifting and ambiguous legal regime. Clarity around the applicable laws and the precise boundaries of permissible content, especially on websites, social media, and private digital communications, is crucial for lawful, effective business operations. This article examines the underlying legal structure that shapes what brands in the sexual wellness sector may or may not communicate, provides an analysis of judicial trends, highlights industry norms, and suggests practical ways forward for such brands seeking compliance and sustainable growth.

2. Laws Governing Sexual Wellness Products and Content

   Contrary to popular belief, there is no Indian law that explicitly outlaws the sale or use of sex toys or other sexual wellness products. However, the legal matrix that governs this sector is complex and predominantly driven by statutes developed to address obscenity or preserve public morality:

   
   

   1. Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (‘BNS 2023’) & Information Technology Act, 2000 (‘IT Act 2000’). The BNS 2023 (Section 294) and IT Act, 2000 (Section 67) serve as primary gatekeepers, penalizing the sale, exhibition, or transmission of material deemed obscene, broadly construed as content appealing to prurient interests or having a corrupting influence. The determination of obscenity under Section 294 remains context-based, relying on prevailing community standards and on the specifics of how a product is depicted or marketed. 

      
      

   2. The Customs Act, 1962. The Customs Act, 1962, specifically Section 11, empowers the Central Government to prohibit the import of goods deemed injurious to public morality, including items considered “obscene”. Customs officers regularly exercise this power to seize shipments of sex toys and similar adult products. Notably, the majority of cases in this sphere centers around customs authorities confiscating sex toys, with courts often called upon to interpret whether such goods genuinely violate obscenity standards. As explained further in this article, judicial decisions in this area typically focus on the discretionary nature of these seizures and the ambiguity surrounding what meets the legal threshold of obscenity.

      
      

   3. Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising (‘ASCI Code’). On the advertising and consumer interface, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) operates as an industry-led self-regulatory mechanism that discourages vulgarity, indecency, and untruthfulness in advertisements. Especially in the realm of sexual wellness, ASCI Code pushes brands toward messaging framed with health, marital harmony, and education-not titillation.

      
      

   Despite the lack of explicit prohibition, the cumulative effect is that the businesses in this space should keep sexual wellness marketing squarely within the limits of what can be reasonably defended as educational, discreet, and not overtly sexual.

   
   

3. Analysis of content across brand touchpoints

   Given the absence of clear statutory guidance and the prevalence of subjective enforcement in this sector, the authors undertook a review of marketing and messaging practices adopted by leading sexual wellness brands to understand how industry participants are navigating these grey areas in practice. This analysis seeks to identify emerging norms, risk-mitigation strategies, and implicit compliance benchmarks that brands rely upon in the face of legal and regulatory ambiguity.

   
   

   1. Website Content

      On their websites, brands have the greatest latitude to present detailed product descriptions, but must still steer clear of explicit claims or graphic depictions. Most brands focus messaging on therapeutic benefits, wellness, marital harmony, and technical features (e.g., “intimate massagers,” or “self-care devices”). Direct reference to sexual pleasure or anatomical detail, especially coupled with images or videos, increases risk under BNS 2023 and IT Act 2000. Some established brands avoid naming sex acts or body parts, instead relying on euphemism and indirect suggestion. Those brands choosing more explicit descriptions, often seen with bold market entrants, accept a higher legal burden and run greater risk of site takedowns.

      
      

   2. Social Media Communications

      A comparative analysis of social media content across sexual wellness brands reveals marked differences in tone and explicitness. Multiple brands tend to employ a more educational and wellness-oriented approach, using suggestive but relatively restrained language and avoiding overtly graphic imagery, thereby keeping legal risk low to moderate. A few other brands, on the other hand, are more sexually overt, with posts referencing explicit acts, and often ventures close to the boundary of content that could be seen as lascivious or appealing to prurient interests, resulting in a higher potential liability under both Section 294 of BNS 2023 and Section 67 of the IT Act 2000. Overall, the review underscores that social media content tends to be more vivid and daring than website or direct messaging content, but with higher risk, and brands choosing higher explicitness do so with corresponding exposure to regulatory scrutiny.

      
      

   3. Personal Messaging (WhatsApp, Email, SMS)

      Brands overwhelmingly tone down language in these communications, opting for generic wellness advice, and product recommendations framed as self-care rather than explicit sexual content. Even where a consumer has opted in, prudent brands prefer muted, legal-compliant messaging to avoid prosecution risks.

      
      

   A comprehensive review of leading sexual wellness brands reveals a clear hierarchy when it comes to the explicitness of their content: social media platforms generally feature the most vivid and daring content, leveraging bold imagery and playful language to engage users; websites maintain a moderately explicit tone, balancing product detail with regulatory caution; and personal messaging, such as WhatsApp or email, is the most restrained, consistently muted to safeguard privacy and minimize controversy.

   
   

4. How should sexual wellness brands tread the path?

   1. Even though there are no specific laws in place to regulate the content by sexual wellness brands, it is still prudent for them to be careful about the content they give out for the consumers. A strong focus on wellness and education can enable brands to significantly reduce legal exposure, as it aligns content with socially and legally acceptable purposes. Ethical marketing in this space emphasizes informative and tasteful communication, leveraging euphemisms, and steering clear of content whose primary intent is sexual gratification. Alongside messaging, operational aspects like discreet packaging and transparent, compliant billing practices are equally important, as they minimize the possibility of product seizures and help protect the privacy and interests of both brands and consumers.

      
      

   2. Brands seeking to build trust and longevity should adopt a multi-tiered approach to regulatory and reputational safety:

      1. Develop Clear Internal Guidelines: Brands should create internal standards which mirror both statutory law and advertising self-regulation codes. Every creative brief, product page, email blast, or social media post should be reviewed for explicit language, imagery, and overall tone.

      2. Prioritize education and wellness framing: Content should prominently emphasize themes of health, self-care, and personal empowerment, drawing upon clinical language, endorsements from healthcare professionals, and strategic educational collaborations.

      3. Exercise caution in personal messaging: Channels like WhatsApp, email, and SMS should be considered particularly high-risk for potential legal scrutiny. In these personal communications, it is advisable to consistently favour clear, generic, and informative messaging over content that is playful, suggestive, or overtly risqué.

      4. Secure discreet packaging and payment channels: Not only do customs seizures pose legal risk, but poor packaging or disclosure may embarrass or endanger buyers. Discreet packaging, verified payment partners, and transparent terms of service protect consumer dignity and lower operational risk.

      5. Regular legal review and updates: Given the evolving landscape, brands should conduct periodic legal audits of all consumer-facing materials, staying abreast of new judgments, statutes, and platform policies.

      6. Avoid unsubstantiated medical or therapeutic claims: Brands should refrain from making unfounded health claims unless backed by actual evidence or necessary disclaimers. This protects brands under both consumer protection laws and medical device regulations, where applicable.

   
   

5. Judicial interpretations

   Judicial clarity in this area is still evolving and courts have not yet given a clear or blanket approval to sexual wellness products or their open promotion. However, recent court decisions show a gradual shift in how obscenity laws are understood and applied in today’s social context:

   
   

   1. Notably, in Kavita Phumbhra vs. Commissioner of Customs (Ports) 2011 SCC OnLine Cal 2378, the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court dealt with the issue of import seizure of adult playing cards but refrained from pronouncing these products as inherently illegal. The High Court held that the sale of adult playing cards are not obscene so as to render them prohibited articles. 

      
      

   2. In Ajay Ghoshami vs. Union of India, (2007) 1 SCC 143, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India reiterated that obscenity is a context-dependent and culturally variable standard, differing not only across societies but even within communities. The Supreme Court emphasised that excessive censorship, particularly of news reports or images, would unjustifiably restrict the freedom of the press, a core democratic value. Importantly, the Supreme Court cautioned that strained or imaginative interpretations, especially by minors, cannot dictate a finding of obscenity; content must be assessed based on what it reasonably conveys, not on speculative perceptions.

      
      

   3. In Chandrakant Kalyandas Kakodkar vs. State of Maharashtra, (1969) 2 SCC 687, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed that “if a reference to sex by itself is considered obscene no books can be sold except those which are purely religious”, thereby cautioning against a mechanical or overly rigid application of obscenity standards.

      
      

   4. Similarly, in Commissioner of Customs NS-V vs. DOC Brown Industries LLP, Customs Appeal (L) No. 582/2024, the dispute centered on whether imported massagers could be considered obscene and thus subject to confiscation. The Bombay High Court held that classifying the imported massagers as “obscene” articles is “perverse” and based on personal imagination rather than law. The Court confirmed that body massagers cannot be treated as prohibited goods. 

      
      

   5. In Techsync vs. Superintendent of Customs, WP(C) 3542/2025, the High Court of Delhi took a clear and pragmatic view on the regulatory treatment of imported body massagers. The High Court in its Order dated 21st November 2025 in the same matter noted that massagers intended for general wellness or soothing purposes do not fall within the scope of the Medical Devices Rules, 2017, relying on official FAQs issued by the Medical Devices Division, and therefore do not require Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approval unless claimed to be therapeutic devices. Importantly, the Court deprecated the absence of a uniform policy and directed the CBIC to undertake an inter-ministerial consultation to arrive at a consistent, contemporary framework governing the import of body massagers and similar products, holding that individual customs officers cannot, in the interim, rely on subjective perceptions to selectively detain or seize consignments. Pending such policy clarity, the Court ordered provisional release of the goods and emphasised that any future policy decision would operate prospectively only.

      
      

   6. These cases, along with several similar judgments, demonstrate that most of the litigation in this sphere revolves around customs authorities exercising discretionary power rather than definitive legal prohibitions on sexual wellness products. 

      
      

   7. Overall, the judiciary appears to be moving, if incrementally, toward recognizing and protecting the autonomy and private choices of adults in matters of sexual wellness.  A matter which was considered fifty years ago as obscene, with the changing social values, norms, dissemination of knowledge, technological progress, more advanced audio and visual devices is perhaps no longer considered as such.

      
      

6. Conclusion

   The regulatory environment for sexual wellness brands in India is evolving, yet remains characterized by notable ambiguity and cautious judicial endorsement. Legislation and enforcement are shaped by broad, sometimes subjective standards of obscenity and decency. In the absence of explicit legal prohibition, most brands operate within the shelter of prudent, educationally-oriented content, aiming to both normalize adult sexual wellness and shield themselves from legal disputes. 

   
   

   Recent judicial decisions, particularly those scrutinizing customs seizures and expanding the understanding of contemporary community standards, indicate a restrained and context-sensitive approach to obscenity. Courts have repeatedly emphasized that mere reference to sex or the possibility of alternative uses cannot, by itself, render an item “obscene,” and have cautioned against decisions driven by personal perceptions of officials. Incremental judicial acceptance, rising societal openness, and industry adaptation suggest a gradual shift towards clearer, more permissive norms. Until Parliament or the higher judiciary offers unequivocal guidance, sexual wellness brands would do well to continue their embrace of carefully muted, wellness-oriented messaging, especially in personal and digital communications, as the surest means of responsibly advancing both market growth and consumer trust.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer: This publication is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. It summarizes recent legal and policy developments from publicly available sources and does not constitute legal advice, opinion, or endorsement by Sigma Chambers.All Sources are hyperlinked.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Authors: Abhinav Goyal, Kushank Sindhu and Anmol Singh

Readers can direct their queries or comments to the authors.

__________________________________________________________________________________