India Launches Pilot for Chatbot-Based Shopping and Payments via ChatGPT
India’s payments authority partners with OpenAI and Razorpay to embed purchases directly into ChatGPT.
India has initiated a nationwide pilot allowing consumers to shop and pay directly through AI chatbots, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the forerunner, and integrations with Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude in the works. The move signals India’s ambition to merge conversational AI with digital commerce at scale.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), responsible for India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), announced its collaboration with OpenAI and fintech firm Razorpay to pilot “agentic payments” in ChatGPT. The trial enables users to search, select, and purchase items—such as groceries or mobile recharges—without leaving the chat interface.
Conversational Commerce Begins: UPI Integration with ChatGPT
Razorpay has built the behind-the-scenes merchant integration layer, while the NPCI is enabling in-chat payment execution through its new protocols: UPI Reserve Pay, which allows funds to be pre-blocked for future merchant debit, and UPI Circle, which handles authentication without redirecting users out of the chat.
Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank are the banking participants, while Tata Group’s BigBasket and telecom operator Vi are among the first merchants to join. NPCI’s UPI system already processes over 20 billion transactions monthly, making it one of the world’s most active real-time payment networks.
Expanding to Gemini and Claude
While the pilot initially runs on ChatGPT, Razorpay has reportedly completed proof-of-concept integrations with Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude. Those will go live in the coming weeks, according to the company. Despite the deeper integration, AI firms will not gain access to users’ payment data. Transactions must be pre-authorized by users via two-factor authentication, ensuring control and privacy.
Currently, there is no formal revenue-sharing model among NPCI, AI firms, or merchants. The pilot is designed more as a testbed to explore how conversational AI can transform commerce than as a monetization exercise—at least in this early stage. Razorpay plans to expand merchant participation beyond BigBasket and Vi over the next few months.
The Idea Of Giving Artificial Intelligence The “Authority To Shop On Your Behalf” May Take Time To Gain Acceptance!
Integrating AI agents with financial systems introduces both opportunity and complexity. NPCI’s chairman has warned of systemic risks if too much AI capability is concentrated in a few global players, highlighting concerns around sovereignty, control, and systemic stability.
Additionally, India is rolling out biometric authentication (fingerprint or face) for UPI transactions from October 8, 2025, as permitted by new Reserve Bank of India guidelines. This may bolster security and user trust in AI-based payment flows. The broader context: globally, OpenAI launched an “Instant Checkout” feature and an Agentic Commerce Protocol in partnership with Stripe, enabling AI agents to interact directly with merchants and users in places like the U.S. Chrome storefronts.
Some Indian fintechs are also building parallel agentic payment systems. For instance, Cashfree Payments has rolled out an Agentic Payments MCP, though merchants must build their own AI shopping agents to use it. Adoption will hinge on how comfortable consumers become with allowing an AI to execute purchases on their behalf, and how reliably security and fraud protections are maintained. As one fintech executive put it: “This is still an early, forward-looking concept, but one with tremendous potential.”