NPCI pauses AI protocol launch for regulatory clearance

The National Payments Corporation of India has temporarily paused the launch of its Unified Agentic Protocol for AI-led UPI transactions, pending regulatory clearance from the Reserve Bank of India. The launch was scheduled for Thursday at the Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai. NPCI will spend the next few months addressing concerns around user protection, potential liabilities from rogue AI agents, and governance standards before seeking approval again. The protocol aims to create interoperable infrastructure for registering, verifying, and authorizing AI agents to transact across UPI without altering existing payment rails. The delay comes as global players develop similar standards, including Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol and Mastercard's Agent Pay Acceptance Framework. India's Pine Labs has already rolled out its own agentic protocol, while NPCI is also developing a framework for its RuPay card network.