India preparing rollout of agentic payments on UPI
While leading payment companies have launched such frameworks in the U.S., Europe, Singapore and Australia, a rollout on the popular Unified Payments Interface would also put India among the first countries to have a national infrastructure for agentic AI payments.
India is set to roll out a framework for AI agents to make small digital payments without prior approval, potentially making UPI one of the world's largest networks with agentic payments, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is currently the world's largest retail fast-payment system by transaction volume.
The Unified Agent Protocol is expected to be unveiled at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai next week. Early use cases are likely to include low-value, frequent purchases like groceries, with e-commerce platforms positioned to capture early demand. AI agents could potentially place orders based on sale offers and discounts and make investments based on specified price thresholds.
The protocol will draw on existing UPI mechanisms such as UPI Circle and Reserve Pay. NPCI plans to offer infrastructure for merchants to integrate directly, allowing customers to set rule-based instructions for AI agents with spending limits, audit trails, and identity checks. The Reserve Bank of India is also planning to expand the digital rupee through welfare schemes and cross-border payments.
Global card networks Mastercard and Visa are also developing similar agentic capabilities for payments in India.
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