technology
NPCI Chief Says AI Could Aid UPI Growth While Market-Share Cap and Low BHIM Share Remain
@techcrunch reported that Dilip Asbe, MD and CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India, discussed AI applications for UPI growth during Mumbai Tech Week 2026. He addressed user acquisition, fraud detection, credit access, and voice interfaces. UPI currently processes over 750 million daily transactions.
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Dilip Asbe, managing director and chief executive of the National Payments Corporation of India, said AI will support the next phase of growth for the Unified Payment Interface. He spoke last month at Mumbai Tech Week 2026. Asbe stated that AI will help reach new users, detect fraud and account mules, extend credit based on digital footprints, and improve voice and multilingual onboarding.
NPCI oversees UPI, which now handles more than 750 million transactions each day. @techcrunch reported that Asbe noted adoption of a voice assistant system launched in 2023 has not yet taken off. He added that accurate voice models could still become important for payments.
NPCI has demonstrated agentic commerce and payments tools with Razorpay. Last year the corporation introduced the FIMI model to resolve user disputes, and it now serves more than one million users for mandate cancellations. PhonePe and Google Pay together hold over 80 percent of UPI market share.
A regulatory cap limiting any single app to 30 percent is scheduled for December 31, 2026. Asbe said viable commercial models remain a key barrier to greater competition. In 2024 NPCI spun off its BHIM app to increase competitiveness.
BHIM holds roughly 1 percent market share, and Asbe said the organization has no specific target for its growth.
