Pine Labs has launched the Pine Labs Payment Protocol (P3P), a UPI-based system that enables AI agents to execute payments on a user’s behalf after an initial one-time mandate approval, within predefined limits.

P3P uses UPI One Time Mandates and Reserve Pay to allow autonomous payments, enabling recurring or conditional payments after initial approval.

Pine Labs unveils a protocol that integrates agentic AI with UPI transactions to enable autonomous payments without individual human authentication.

The report draws on inputs from multiple agencies, indicating collaboration or reporting from several sources.

Industry executives see AI agents acting as personal shoppers that automatically secure deals, potentially transforming e-commerce workflows.

Questions arise about crypto or stablecoin usage in India under RBI policy, with no clear regulatory path for stablecoins within P3P.

A digital permission framework named Grantex acts as an identity and authorization layer, defining spending limits and providing auditable transaction records for AI agents.

The development aims to accelerate India's digitization of commerce and position the country at the forefront of the global agentic commerce market, projected to reach 65.47 billion USD by 2033.

Regulatory and liability questions remain, including whether UPI mandates were intended for autonomous, event-driven payments, how RBI’s authentication applies to mandate-based and high-value transactions, who bears liability for errors, and what data can be shared with AI providers.

Regulatory uncertainty persists as RBI has yet to establish a dedicated framework for AI agents on UPI, with accountability, consumer protection, transaction limits, and oversight not fully resolved.

HTTP 402 protocol is incorporated to standardize payment requests and processing across digital systems within this framework.

Live deployments include Gullak for automated gold purchases based on price conditions and a proof-of-concept with Vijay Sales to let an AI agent buy products at target prices; P3P is live on UPI ReservePay with plans to expand to cards, net banking, wallets, EMI, and even potential stablecoin rails.