PM-WANI Explained for Hotels, Cafes and Shops
PM-WANI lets any shop sell public WiFi without a telecom licence. It is a good fit for some venues and the wrong one for others. Here is how it works, what the May 2026 changes mean, and how it differs from running your own guest WiFi.
PM-WANI (Prime Minister’s Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) is the Department of Telecommunications’ framework for public WiFi in India. It lets any shop, cafe or small business offer paid or free WiFi to the public without a telecom licence, by plugging into a shared system of registered aggregators and apps. Owners hear about it from installers, from government announcements and, since May 2026, from the new rule that PM-WANI hotspots must carry a standard network name. This guide explains how the scheme works, what changed this year, and how it differs from running your own branded guest WiFi.
The short answer: under PM-WANI a venue becomes a PDO (Public Data Office). It needs no licence, registration or fee, but it must connect its access points to a registered PDOA (Public Data Office Aggregator), which handles login, payment and user records. Users sign in through a PM-WANI app. It suits a venue that wants to sell WiFi to anyone passing by. A venue that wants WiFi under its own name, for its own customers, with its own login page, usually runs a private captive portal instead.
How PM-WANI works: the four roles
The DoT framework splits public WiFi into four roles. Only two of them need to register with the government.
| Role | Who it is | What it does | Registration |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDO (Public Data Office) | A shop, cafe, hotel or any other entity | Installs and runs PM-WANI compliant WiFi access points, with an internet connection from a licensed provider | None. “Any entity can be a PDO. NO REGISTRATION with DoT will be required.” |
| PDOA (Public Data Office Aggregator) | A company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 | Aggregates many PDOs’ hotspots and handles authorisation and accounting | Registers with DoT, no registration fee |
| App Provider | A company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 | Builds the app users sign up in, verifies their mobile number by OTP (one-time password), and authenticates them | Registers with DoT, no registration fee |
| Central Registry | Maintained, to begin with, by C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) | Keeps the list of registered PDOAs, App Providers and hotspots | Not applicable |
Source: DoT, WANI Framework and Guidelines for Registration.
Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, PDOA and App Provider registrations are moving to a “PM WANI Service Authorisation”, which DoT’s portal lists with nil processing fee, nil entry fee and a 20-year validity, and it repeats that “PDOs do not require authorisation” (DoT eServices).
What a guest’s sign-in looks like
- The user installs a PM-WANI app from any registered App Provider and verifies their mobile number by OTP. This is done once.
- At a hotspot, the app finds nearby PM-WANI networks and the user picks one.
- The PDO’s hotspot login page checks the user with the App Provider’s backend, using a token passed from the app.
- The user picks a plan, pays if it is a paid plan, and gets online. The PDOA does the accounting.
So the login belongs to the PM-WANI system, not to your venue. A PM-WANI user can use any PDO’s hotspot with the same app.
What changed in May 2026
On 22 May 2026, DoT issued Circulars 1/PM-WANI/2026 and 2/PM-WANI/2026. As reported by the Press Information Bureau and BW Businessworld, they make three changes:
- QR login for second devices. A laptop or tablet can be connected by scanning a QR code on the login page with a phone that is already signed in to a PM-WANI app.
- Short plans. WiFi plans of 15, 30 and 60 minutes.
- Standard network names. PM-WANI hotspots must use a standard name (SSID, service set identifier) beginning with
PMWANI_, so users can recognise them. Months after the deadline, fewer than 3% of registered hotspots had adopted it.
Stakeholders were given eight weeks to implement them, which put the deadline in July 2026. If you are already a PDO, your hotspot’s network name should now follow the PMWANI_ format. Ask your PDOA whether it has been changed.
How big is PM-WANI?
The PM-WANI Central Registry publishes live figures. When we checked on 5 October 2026, pmwani.gov.in listed 4,22,479 access points deployed, 3,89,498 of them active, and 206 active PDOAs out of 475 that had signed up. That is a large network, and it is growing, mainly among small shops and in places with weak mobile data.
What PM-WANI means for user data
The PDOA, not the shop, carries the data obligation. The framework says the “PDOA shall make necessary provisions for storage of user data for one year” and that “complete user data and usage logs will be stored within India”. If you are a PDO, your aggregator holds the record of who used your hotspot, and its privacy terms govern that data. Guest WiFi logs in India covers how this sits next to the CERT-In 180-day rule.
PM-WANI or your own guest WiFi: how they differ
They solve different problems. PM-WANI is about selling internet access to the public. A private guest WiFi platform is about giving your own customers internet as part of your service, under your name.
| PM-WANI hotspot (you are a PDO) | Private guest WiFi with your own captive portal | |
|---|---|---|
| Who the WiFi is for | Anyone nearby with a PM-WANI app | Your guests, customers, patients or members |
| Network name | Must follow the PMWANI_ format |
Your choice, for example your brand name |
| Login | Through a PM-WANI app, then the PDO’s login page | Your own branded login page, by OTP, voucher or other methods you choose |
| Who holds the user records | The PDOA, for one year, in India | You, through your own platform |
| Revenue | You can sell plans, shared through the PDOA | Usually free, as part of your service, or charged your own way |
| Your branding | Limited | Full: logo, colours, welcome message |
| Per-guest limits and blocking | Set by the PDOA’s system and plans | Set by you, per guest |
| Best for | Tea stalls, kirana stores, bus stands, places where people want to buy data | Hotels, cafes, restaurants, clinics, co-working spaces, showrooms |
Can a venue do both?
The framework lets a PDO run several access points and connect each one to a PDOA’s login page. Nothing we found in the guidelines stops a venue from also running a separate private network for its own guests, but each PM-WANI access point has to work with its PDOA’s portal. If you want both, plan them as two networks and confirm the setup with your PDOA first.
Where Wyfy Guest fits
Wyfy Guest is a private guest WiFi platform. It is not a PDOA or an App Provider, and it does not run the PM-WANI login flow or sell PM-WANI plans. If you want to become a PDO, you need a registered PDOA. The registry at pmwani.gov.in lists them.
What Wyfy Guest does is the right-hand column of the table above: a branded login page on the routers you already own, sign-in by mobile OTP, WhatsApp OTP, email OTP or a voucher, per-guest speed and device limits where your router supports them, and a record of who connected and when. What a captive portal is explains the login page itself.
Common questions about PM-WANI
What is PM-WANI?
PM-WANI (Prime Minister’s Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) is a Department of Telecommunications framework that lets any business offer public WiFi without a telecom licence. Shops become PDOs, registered aggregators (PDOAs) handle sign-in and accounting, and users connect through registered apps after verifying their mobile number.
Do I need a licence to become a PM-WANI PDO?
No. The DoT guidelines say any entity can be a PDO and that no registration with DoT is required, and there is no fee. You do need an agreement with a registered PDOA and an internet connection from a licensed service provider.
Do I need PM-WANI to give free WiFi to my own customers?
PM-WANI is the framework for offering public WiFi through the PDO and PDOA model. Most hotels, cafes and clinics that give WiFi to their own customers run a private guest network with a login page instead. Check that your broadband plan allows the use you have in mind, and take advice if you are unsure.
What is the PMWANI SSID rule?
DoT Circular 1/PM-WANI/2026 of 22 May 2026 requires PM-WANI hotspots to use a standard network name beginning with PMWANI_, so users can identify them. Stakeholders had eight weeks to implement it.
Who stores user data on a PM-WANI hotspot?
The PDOA. The framework requires the PDOA to store user data for one year, and user data and usage logs to be stored within India.
Does Wyfy Guest support PM-WANI?
No. Wyfy Guest is not a PDOA or App Provider and does not run the PM-WANI login. It runs private, branded guest WiFi for venues that want their own login page and their own guest records.
Sources
- Department of Telecommunications, Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (WANI) Framework and Guidelines for Registration
- Department of Telecommunications, PM WANI Service Authorisation
- Press Information Bureau, PM-WANI gets major citizen-friendly upgrade
- PM-WANI Central Registry, pmwani.gov.in, statistics checked 5 October 2026
If you are weighing PM-WANI against your own branded guest WiFi, book a demo and we will show you what the private option looks like on your own router.
