Bhubaneswar: Odisha Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Department Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Bank of India (SBI), through its payment aggregator service SBIePay, to strengthen digital payment infrastructure and facilitate seamless, secure and citizen-centric payment services across Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the state through the SUJOG platform.
According to an official statement, under the partnership, citizens will be able to make online payments for various municipal services, taxes, fees and utility charges through the SUJOG platform using a wide range of digital payment options.
These include RuPay, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and AMEX cards, internet banking, mobile banking/IMPS, UPI, UPI-RCC (RuPay Credit Card), UPI-CL (Credit Line) and digital wallets.
The H&UD Department also asserted that the initiative is aimed at making public payments more convenient and accessible while reducing the need for citizens to visit municipal offices for routine transactions.
The integration will also contribute to greater transparency, efficiency and ease of transactions in urban governance.
It noted that a key feature of the payment framework is the seamless settlement of collections.
Payments received through the gateway will be settled directly into the designated bank accounts of the respective ULBs on a T+1 business-day basis.
Unique transaction identifiers will facilitate transparent accounting, reconciliation and tracking of collections across ULBs.
The system will also provide mechanisms for exception handling, Management Information System (MIS)-based reconciliation, refunds and chargeback management.
These processes will be supported by a turnaround time (TAT) of seven calendar days, further strengthening transparency and enhancing citizen confidence in digital payment services.
Speaking on the occasion, H&UD department Additional Chief Secretary, Usha Padhee, thanked the SBI for extending its support and helping hand in strengthening the SUJOG platform.
She said that the collaboration will help the Department further enhance the efficiency, convenience and accessibility of citizen services through digital means.
Rakesh Yadav, Chief General Manager of SBI Odisha Circle, assured that the Bank would extend all possible support and cooperation to make the initiative successful and further strengthen the digital payment ecosystem under SUJOG.
The department told that by integrating a comprehensive and secure payment gateway with municipal service delivery, it aims to make the payment of urban taxes, fees and utility charges faster, simpler, safer and more accessible for citizens across the state.
IANS