How long to keep therapy notes in India

• The DPDP Act asks a data fiduciary to erase personal data once consent is withdrawn or the purpose is no longer served, whichever is earlier, "unless retention is necessary for compliance with any law" (section 8(7)). Most of these duties start on 13 May 2027.
• The DPDP Rules, 2025 ask you to keep personal data, traffic data and the logs of processing for at least one year from the processing (rule 8(3)), so a period shorter than a year is not an option once the rules apply.
• The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 gives a person with mental illness a right to confidentiality that covers digital records (sections 23 and 24) and a right to see their basic medical records (section 25). It sets no retention period.
• The Indian Medical Council regulations of 2002 ask physicians to keep records of indoor patients for 3 years from the start of treatment (regulation 1.3.1). That rule is for doctors and in-patients; it does not cover psychologists or counsellors, though it does apply to psychiatrists' in-patient records.
• The NIMHANS guidelines for tele-psychotherapy (2020, not binding) ask clinical psychologists to document every session in a uniform format and store it securely, but they do not set a period either.

We found no rule from the Rehabilitation Council of India or any other body that fixes a period for therapy or counselling notes. Until one exists, the decision is yours, and the DPDP Act expects you to be able to explain it.

• Complaints and claims. A complaint to a consumer commission must normally be filed within two years of the cause of action, although a commission can admit a late one for sufficient cause (Consumer Protection Act, 2019 section 69). Notes are your record of what happened, so it is sensible to keep them for at least that long after the last session. Ask your lawyer how long that should be for your work.
• Children. Under section 6 of the Limitation Act, 1963, a person who was a minor when a claim arose can usually bring it within the same period after turning 18. Records of work with children often need to be kept until some time after the child comes of age.
• Returning clients. Clients do come back after a gap, and earlier notes help. That is a reason to keep notes for a while, not for ever; say how long in your intake information.
• Your professional body or employer. If you work in a hospital, school or organisation, follow its records policy. If your association publishes guidance, follow that too.
• Risk. Every year you keep a note is a year it could be lost, stolen or seen by the wrong person. Keeping less, for less time, is itself a safeguard.

Invoices and payments are a separate record with their own rule. A GST-registered person keeps accounts and records until 72 months from the due date of the annual return for that year (CGST Act section 36), and income tax law has its own rules on books of account. When you erase a client, keep the money records, without the clinical detail, for as long as those rules ask. Your CA can tell you the period that applies to you.

1. Pick one period for adult clients and a longer rule for children, counted from the last session.
2. Write both into your intake information and consent form, in plain words.
3. Keep notes in one secure place, so that when the period ends you can find and erase everything, including copies in email, chat and downloads.
4. Once a year, review clients whose period has ended and erase their records, keeping only the money records tax law asks for.
5. If a complaint, legal case or request from an authority is open, keep everything about that client until it is closed.
6. Note what you erased and when, without keeping the content.

This is not legal advice. Check your period with a lawyer, especially if you work with children, in a hospital or with clients involved in legal proceedings.