NIMHANS issued guidelines for tele-counselling services. In the same regard I have one question – Does it apply on all tele-counselling centres that are providing tele-counselling services in India or there may be some difference as Ministry of Labour and Welfare guidelines has issued a separate set of guidelines for counselling centres. Please help me out in this regard.

In the current situation, many counsellors and psychotherapists are offering help to clients online. The NIMHANS Tele-psychotherapy Services Guidelines (version 1.0) discuss issues and offer recommendations specifically for clinical psychologists, as defined in the Mental Health Care Act and regulated by the Rehabilitation Council of India. These guidelines are not legally mandated but can be helpful in supporting competent and ethical online psychotherapy services. You may find other tele-counselling guidelines that have been prepared in India for different purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists has prepared guidelines for telecounselling services for health care workers (check http://iacp.in/).  Here is another link to recently developed tele-psychology counselling guidelines in the country that might be helpful (https://globalpsychiatry.org/2020/04/11/best-practice-guidelines/)