RBI Rules Keep ixigo Voice Payments Tied To Human Authentication
ixigo is reviewing voice payments for travel bookings, but RBI authentication rules still require a provable human authorisation record before the voice interface can move into payments.
RBI Rules Keep ixigo Voice Payments Tied To Human Authentication
Voice payments for ixigo travel bookings still need a verifiable human authorisation step under India's domestic payment rules.
MediaNama reported that the travel platform is reviewing a voice-payment feature under the Reserve Bank of India's Authentication Mechanisms Directions, 2025.
The RBI directions require two distinct factors for domestic digital payments.
The directions cite dynamic transaction factors such as OTPs and provable factors such as biometrics.
Voice Consent Has To Produce An Audit Trail
ixigo Group CEO Aloke Bajpai told Mint that safeguards, not the voice interface itself, are the main issue.
Bajpai said the company wants every voice transaction backed by a verifiable record because a spoken instruction does not automatically leave the same audit trail as a tap.
Founder-editor Nikhil Pahwa has noted that an agent-assisted payment can still use two-factor authentication if the user receives and supplies the OTP.
For ixigo, the payment question is consent, auditability and liability.
A voice instruction has to create a reliable authorisation record and a clear path for handling wrongful or accidental charges.
E-Mandates And Agent Protocols Keep Approval In Scope
Small-value contactless card transactions are already exempt from mandatory two-factor authentication, according to the MediaNama account.
Recurring e-mandate payments do not need repeated authentication after the first payment.
MediaNama reported that India's Digital Payments E-Mandate Framework, 2026 permits recurring transactions up to Rs 15,000 without an additional authentication factor after setup.
MediaNama also reported that the framework requires a human additional factor to register the mandate and another for the first payment.
NPCI's Unified Agent Protocol would let AI agents be registered, verified and authorised to transact over UPI without changing the underlying rails, according to Business Standard details cited in the report.
NPCI would verify whether a payment request is genuine, keep logs of agentic transactions and need RBI approval before rollout.
An April 2026 International Monetary Fund note said payment infrastructure needs deterministic, auditable authorisation while AI agents behave probabilistically.
TARA Shows The Existing Automation Base
The voice-payment plan extends ixigo's existing AI travel-assistance work.
The company's systems handled 4.35 million customer queries and more than 81% of voice calls without human involvement in Q4 FY26, according to the report.
Group Co-CEO Rajnish Kumar said AI handled about 90% of all calls during the December 2025 flight disruption.
The company also uses fare-tracking tools, price-prediction agents and autonomous systems that can place boarding passes in Apple and Google Wallets.
A separate example cited Gnani.ai and Razorpay work on live-call UPI payment capability in February 2026.
Mint-cited Tracxn data put Indian voice-AI funding at $2.71 million in 2021 and $13.9 million in 2025.
RBI approval for ixigo voice payments, launch timing, final voiceprint design, liability terms for accidental charges, or transaction limits remain outside the public record.
