AI India Summit 2026: ‘Vendors not accepting UPI payments’, say visitors as they flood social media complaining about event’s mismanagement
Viral news: The India AI Summit 2026 is being held in New Delhi from February 16 to 20. The summit is expected to bring global leaders, technical experts, and founders under one roof for the advancement of artificial intelligence. The grand event is happening at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. On the first day, i.e., February 16, many people visited the summit and showed their disappointment regarding mismanagement. However, what caught everyone’s attention was that the food stalls at the summit were not accepting payments through UPI or cards. This was stated by many individuals on X. You can check how people are reacting.
A person shared a video on X stating how the event was highly mismanaged. He reported problems of crowd control, traffic, and, most surprisingly, vendors only accepting ‘cash’.
It was not an AI summit. The fact that we were not using AI for
1. Crowd control
2. No app to help you understand the show flow
3. Traffic was worse
4. The food vendor was taking only cash(can you imagine this)
5. It was more optics less show
6. The audience filtering was not pic.twitter.com/XGZ2MWOKqv— Rajnish (@Raj7k) February 17, 2026
One user wrote, “Horrifying chaos at AI Summit”
Horrifying chaos at AI Summit – Turned into PM Modi’s security fortress and photo op
• Main Hall cleared for PM’s visit
• Exhibitors evicted from own paid stalls
• Founders’ products stolen
• Demos failed due to unstable internet
• Hour-long entry queues
• No keys allowed… pic.twitter.com/KS2fgEUGDd— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) February 17, 2026
Another stated, “I was at the Day 1 of the Impact AI Summit, Bharat Mandapam, Delhi.
Real chaos and mismanagement…”
I was at the Day 1 of the Impact AI Summit, Bharat Mandapam, Delhi.
Real chaos and mismanagement: #impactaisummit #indiaai #IndiaAIImpactSummit2026 #IndiaAISummit2026 #IndiaAIExpo pic.twitter.com/rBHMl30u5W— Amit Diwan (@dw_amit) February 17, 2026
Also Read: PM Modi meets French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai for AI Summit; know key details
Total mismanagement at AI Summit. Standing at gate no 7 since last 1 hour . Entry stopped without any prior notice. What is the use of pre registration etc.
— Dinesh Kumar Dwivedi (@2407Dinesh) February 16, 2026
India AI Summit 2026
The India AI Summit is going to attract many global leaders and experts. The large-scale event is being held in New Delhi from February 16 to 20. The most surprising part about the event, as reported by the visitors, is that the vendors do not accept payments through UPI applications and cards.