Report: NPCI may unveil a 'Unified Agent Protocol' letting AI agents pay over UPI

Reports suggest NPCI is preparing to introduce a framework called the Unified Agent Protocol, which would let an AI agent make small UPI payments on your behalf without you approving each one individually. Inc42, citing a Reuters report, says the launch is expected at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, which runs from 8 to 11 September 2026.

The design reportedly builds on two things UPI already has rather than creating something from scratch. UPI Circle lets a primary user authorise family members or trusted people to pay from their account. Reserve Pay lets you block a sum of money once and draw several future payments from it. Put together, they would let you hand an agent a spending limit it cannot exceed. The early use cases described are low-value and repetitive: grocery orders and routine online purchases.

Status: unconfirmed. Inc42 says NPCI declined to comment when asked. NPCI did demonstrate a pilot of agentic UPI payments at last year's Global Fintech Fest, so the direction is not new, but nothing here is a live feature you can use today.