The Odisha Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Bank of India (SBI) to strengthen digital payment facilities across Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the state.
The agreement, signed on Friday, will enable citizens to make online payments for a range of municipal services through the SUJOG platform, using SBI’s payment aggregator service SBIePay.
The initiative is aimed at making municipal payments faster and more convenient while reducing the need for citizens to visit urban local government offices for routine transactions.
Multiple Digital Payment Options Through SUJOG
Under the new arrangement, citizens will be able to pay municipal taxes, service charges, fees and utility-related bills through multiple digital payment modes.
The available options will include:
- UPI
- RuPay, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and AMEX cards
- Internet banking
- Mobile banking and IMPS
- UPI-RCC (RuPay Credit Card)
- UPI-CL (Credit Line)
- Digital wallets
The integration is expected to provide citizens with greater flexibility when making payments for municipal services.
SBIePay To Power Payment Collection
The digital payment facility will be enabled through SBIePay, SBI’s payment aggregator service.
Through its integration with the SUJOG platform, the system will facilitate digital collection of payments made to different Urban Local Bodies across Odisha.
The initiative is also expected to strengthen the tracking and reconciliation of municipal transactions by providing digital records of payments.
ULBs To Receive Payments On T+1 Basis
Under the payment framework, collections received through the gateway will be settled directly into the designated bank accounts of the respective ULBs on a T+1 business-day basis.
This means eligible collections will be settled on the next business day, subject to the applicable banking and settlement processes.
The system will also generate unique transaction identifiers, allowing authorities to track individual transactions and support accounting and reconciliation.
Refund And Chargeback Mechanism Included
The payment framework will also include mechanisms for handling transaction-related exceptions.
These provisions will cover MIS-based reconciliation, refunds and chargeback management. According to the department, such cases will have a turnaround time of seven calendar days.
The digital tracking mechanism is expected to make it easier for ULBs to monitor collections and address payment-related discrepancies.
Officials Highlight Digital Service Delivery
H&UD Additional Chief Secretary Usha Padhee thanked SBI for supporting the initiative and said the partnership would contribute to improving the efficiency and accessibility of citizen services through digital platforms.
SBI Odisha Circle Chief General Manager Rakesh Yadav also assured the bank’s support for strengthening the digital payment ecosystem under the SUJOG platform.
Push For Digital Municipal Services In Odisha
The MoU is part of the broader effort to expand digital access to municipal services across Odisha.
By bringing multiple payment methods together on SUJOG, the initiative is expected to simplify how residents pay municipal taxes, fees and utility charges.
The integration of digital payments with ULB services could also reduce dependence on physical payment counters and support more transparent and trackable municipal revenue collection.
