India has recently launched a pilot program that allows consumers to shop and pay directly through AI chatbots, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT taking the lead in the rollout. The country has become a key market for global AI companies like Google and Anthropic, with integrations with Gemini and Claude in development.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in collaboration with OpenAI and fintech firm Razorpay, has introduced a new feature that enables consumers to make purchases and payments through ChatGPT. This pilot program is being rolled out nationwide and will be widely available in the near future.
The experience is made possible through UPI Reserve Pay, a new NPCI protocol that allows users to set aside funds for future transactions with specific merchants, and UPI Circle, which streamlines the payment process within ChatGPT without the need to switch to external apps or websites. Bigbasket and Vi are the initial merchant partners for this pilot, offering customers the convenience of shopping for groceries and mobile recharge plans directly through ChatGPT.
Razorpay has developed the merchant integration layer to facilitate transactions through AI chatbots. Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank are providing the banking infrastructure for this innovative payment experience.
India, with its vast population and growing digital economy, is a strategic market for AI companies like OpenAI. The introduction of ChatGPT Go plan in August aimed to attract more subscribers, and the commerce pilot is part of a larger strategy to deepen engagement with Indian consumers.
Razorpay’s CEO, Harshil Mathur, emphasized that this new payment experience goes beyond just transactions; it offers a whole new discovery and commerce experience for users. The success of UPI in India, with over 20 billion transactions per month, sets a strong foundation for further adoption of innovative payment solutions like AI chatbots.
The pilot program also includes collaborations with Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, with plans to launch these integrations for consumers in the coming weeks. Razorpay is actively engaging with more merchants to expand the rollout in the coming months.
Both Google and Anthropic are witnessing a surge in users from India and are working to localize their AI offerings for the Indian market. The agentic payment model being introduced in India does not currently involve a revenue-sharing model for partners, but it aims to enhance user retention for AI companies like OpenAI.
Mathur confirmed that AI companies will not have access to payment data under this new setup, and users will authorize transactions through chatbots using two-factor authentication. OpenAI’s Instant Checkout experience and Agentic Commerce Protocol, developed in partnership with Stripe, are part of a broader effort to facilitate seamless transactions between businesses and consumers.
Cashfree Payments, another player in the online payment space, has launched its Agentic Payments MCP to enable merchants to accept payments directly through chatbots. The solution supports various payment methods, including cards and UPI, and merchants can integrate shopping agents on their own to use the MCP.
Overall, the introduction of agentic payments in India represents a forward-looking concept with significant potential for growth. As shopping agents become more prevalent, the adoption of AI-driven payment experiences is expected to increase, creating new opportunities for businesses and consumers alike.