ChatGPT UPI payments now live via NPCI & Razorpay pilot — users can shop Bigbasket directly inside the chat
Introduction
In a bold move reshaping conversational commerce, OpenAI has partnered with India’s NPCI and Razorpay to pilot UPI payments directly inside ChatGPT. Announced on 9 October 2025, this initiative enables users in India to shop (for example, on Bigbasket) without leaving the chat interface. It’s one of the first real-world efforts to blend chat-based AI and digital payments.
Here’s what’s happening, how it works, who’s involved, potential risks, and what this means for AI + payments in India.
What’s Changing: ChatGPT + UPI Integration
- Pilot program launch: OpenAI, NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India), and Razorpay launched a joint pilot to integrate UPI into ChatGPT. India Today
- Autonomous AI transactions (agentic mode): The idea is to allow AI agents in the chat to execute payments on your behalf — with your consent — safely and under control.
- First merchant integration: Bigbasket (a Tata Group e-commerce brand) is among the first platforms to support in-chat purchases. You could request “Order groceries via Bigbasket” and finish payment via UPI within ChatGPT.
- Banking partners: Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank are participating in the pilot as transaction processing banks.
Why This Move Matters
Conversational commerce era: This bridges chat interfaces and transaction systems — letting users shop without context switching.
Leverage UPI’s scale: India’s UPI processes over 20+ billion monthly transactions — a robust, trusted payments backbone.
Testing safety & control: The pilot will evaluate how safely AI can handle payment credentials, revoke actions, and maintain user control.
Financial inclusion & tech push: Aligns with India’s fintech roadmap — AI + payments, IoT payments, digital infrastructure upgrades.
NPCI & RBI’s Broader Digital Payment Vision
During Global Fintech Fest 2025, RBI / NPCI revealed an ambitious set of new payment innovations:
- AI-based UPI Help (SLM): NPCI’s Small Language Model to assist users with payments, mandates, dispute resolution. Business Standard
- IoT Payments via UPI: Enable devices like smart TVs, wearables, cars to make UPI transactions autonomously. Inc42 Media
- UPI Reserve Pay: Let users reserve or block a credit-limit for particular transactions.
- Biometric / face authentication: New ways to authorize UPI transactions using fingerprints or face ID rather than PINs.
These new initiatives signal that payments in India are rapidly evolving — and the ChatGPT + UPI pilot fits right into that direction.
How It Works — ChatGPT Shopping Flow
- You ask ChatGPT: e.g. “Order groceries from Bigbasket for me”
- ChatGPT fetches options, shows them, you pick
- ChatGPT triggers secure UPI payment using Razorpay + NPCI plumbing
- Transaction confirmation appears inside the chat
- Optionally, user can revoke or cancel in real time (pilot design)
All actions occur within chat context, reducing friction and keeping the user in a single interface.
Challenges, Risks & What’s Being Tested
- Security & trust: Handling payment credentials through AI must be airtight. Any breach or misuse is catastrophic.
- User control & revocation: AI must allow users to stop or cancel payment in mid-flow.
- Scalability & latency: Real-time response demands, load under stress, fallback for failures.
- Edge cases & fraud detection: Mitigating fraudulent triggers, verifying authorization, ensuring accurate merchant matching.
- Regulatory compliance: Data privacy, financial regulation, KYC, audit trails.
Researchers are already looking into agentic AI frameworks for scam detection — e.g. the CASE framework for fraud intelligence — which may become essential in such AI-payment systems.
What’s Next & Rollout Timeline
Still in pilot phase: Only select users, banks, and merchants are involved now.
Evaluation criteria: Usability, security, user feedback, stability.
Expansion potential: If successful, similar integration could be extended to more e-commerce apps, services, or even financial tools.
Iterative model: New versions may incorporate learnings from pilot (e.g. enhanced cancellation logic, multi-step auth).
Implications for AI / Businesses / Users
- Users: Shopping will become faster, more intuitive, less fragmented.
- AI platforms: Start to become one-stop interfaces — not just for answers but for actions.
- Merchants / e-commerce: Opportunity to integrate with AI conversational systems, reduce friction, lower drop-off.
- Fintech / regulators: New rules and frameworks will be needed for AI-distributed financial interactions.
Conclusion
OpenAI’s ChatGPT integrating UPI payments is more than a tech novelty — it’s a glimpse into conversational commerce’s future. With India’s NPCI backing and Razorpay’s plumbing, this pilot might be the first real experiment in letting AI become a payment interface, not just an assistant. As security, control and usability get validated, we may soon live in a world where buying goods is as easy as chatting.
Stay tuned; I’ll be monitoring this closely and publishing follow-up tests as soon as the pilot expands.
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