NPCI To Launch Agentic Payments On UPI: Report

UPI operator NPCI is reportedly looking to launch a framework which would see AI agents execute small-ticket digital payments without requiring explicit user authorisation for every transaction. 

The NPCI is likely to unveil the ‘Unified Agent Protocol’ next week at the 2026 edition of the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, as per a report by Reuters. 

The protocol aims to leverage existing UPI mechanisms, including UPI Circle and Reserve Pay, to allow users to delegate payment authority to AI agents within a pre-set limit. 

For context, the UPI Circle feature enables a primary user to authorise family members and other trusted individuals to make payments on their behalf, while Reserve Pay allows users to block funds at one time for multiple future payments. 

NPCI declined to comment when Inc42 reached out for their inputs. 

The initial rollout of the agentic AI framework will target low-value, high-frequency transactions such as grocery orders and routine digital purchases. 

Over time, NPCI expects AI agents to handle more sophisticated use cases like placing orders automatically based on sales or discounts, as per sources close to the publication.  

The payments body plans to provide merchants with infrastructure to directly integrate with the protocol. It will also enable customers to set rules for AI agents on when and how much to pay. 

The NPCI began piloting an agentic AI framework for UPI last year, marking the next phase of what it calls “intelligent commerce”. The payments body had showcased a live demo of the offering at the Global Fintech Fest 2025. 

Besides the agentic AI framework, the NPCI is also likely to announce a few other updates for UPI at the GFF 2026. It is also reported to be announcing interoperability for UPI AutoPay, allowing users to port their existing mandates across UPI apps and merchants to move mandates from one payment provider to another. 

However, AI integration within UPI has been in the works for some time now. In the last edition of GFF, NPCI partnered with Razorpay and OpenAI to launch agentic payments on ChatGPT and explore AI-driven commerce at a national scale. Powered by Razorpay’s banking partners, Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank, and built on UPI innovations such as UPI Circle and UPI Reserve Pay, the initiative allows UPI transactions for AI-native shopping.

As agentic AI becomes more advanced, payments are naturally coming to the forefront as a prime use case. 

Global credit card networks Visa and MasterCard are already experimenting with frameworks to allow consumers’ AI agents to execute transactions on their behalf. 

Fintech startups have also been working on enabling agentic payments in the domestic private sector. 

Pine Labs rolled out its own agentic payments protocol, P3P, earlier this year. Razorpay has been experimenting with agentic commerce by helping merchants build storefronts that can be integrated into AI platforms like ChatGPT, while Cashfree is focusing on products that enable merchants to enable in-chat transactions on the same. 

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