What is the story about?
Users in India may soon be able to place food, grocery and everyday orders through an AI chat interface and complete the payment using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), after Razorpay and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) showcased an “agentic payments” solution on the AI platform Claude.
Unveiled at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the technology is currently in a pilot phase with a select group of users. If expanded, it could allow consumers to browse options, place orders and pay within a single conversation, without switching between apps.
The offering connects Claude’s conversational interface with UPI Reserve Pay, a feature within India’s UPI system that lets users pre-approve spending limits for merchants. Once a limit is set, transactions can proceed without repeated PIN approvals, while users retain real-time visibility and control over approvals.
During demonstrations, the system handled scenarios such as selecting meals from platforms like Zomato and Swiggy or grocery items from Zepto. The AI agent searched available options, presented them to the user and, after a single confirmation, completed the checkout.
Developers of the integration said the approach could reduce steps in the ordering and payment journey by embedding the entire process within a single conversational flow. By using UPI’s consent-based system, the companies said the solution aims to maintain transaction security and user control.
Razorpay and NPCI both noted that India’s UPI infrastructure, with its real-time and mandate-enabled capabilities, supports secure, consent-driven transactions — factors they say are important for scaling AI-led commerce.
The companies did not provide details on when broader availability might begin beyond the pilot group.
ALSO READ | UPI Circle now available across major apps: How delegated payments work
Unveiled at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the technology is currently in a pilot phase with a select group of users. If expanded, it could allow consumers to browse options, place orders and pay within a single conversation, without switching between apps.
The offering connects Claude’s conversational interface with UPI Reserve Pay, a feature within India’s UPI system that lets users pre-approve spending limits for merchants. Once a limit is set, transactions can proceed without repeated PIN approvals, while users retain real-time visibility and control over approvals.
During demonstrations, the system handled scenarios such as selecting meals from platforms like Zomato and Swiggy or grocery items from Zepto. The AI agent searched available options, presented them to the user and, after a single confirmation, completed the checkout.
Developers of the integration said the approach could reduce steps in the ordering and payment journey by embedding the entire process within a single conversational flow. By using UPI’s consent-based system, the companies said the solution aims to maintain transaction security and user control.
Razorpay and NPCI both noted that India’s UPI infrastructure, with its real-time and mandate-enabled capabilities, supports secure, consent-driven transactions — factors they say are important for scaling AI-led commerce.
The companies did not provide details on when broader availability might begin beyond the pilot group.
ALSO READ | UPI Circle now available across major apps: How delegated payments work
