Odisha ULBs to Get SBIePay Integration for Digital Municipal Payments

Bhubaneswar: Paying urban taxes, municipal fees and utility charges is set to become easier for citizens across Odisha, with the Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Department partnering with the State Bank of India (SBI) to expand digital payment services through the SUJOG platform.

The department has signed an MoU with SBI’s payment aggregator service SBIePay for integrating a secure digital payment gateway with SUJOG, the state’s urban governance platform used by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

The integration will allow citizens to make payments for various municipal services online without having to visit municipal offices for routine transactions. The platform will support multiple payment options, including UPI, RuPay, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and AMEX cards, internet banking, mobile banking/IMPS, UPI-linked credit facilities and digital wallets.

A key component of the arrangement is the direct settlement of collections to the bank accounts of the respective ULBs. Payments received through the gateway will be settled on a T+1 business-day basis, while unique transaction IDs will enable ULBs to track, reconcile and account for collections more efficiently.

The payment system will also have provisions for handling failed or exceptional transactions, refunds and chargebacks. Reconciliation through a Management Information System (MIS) and a turnaround time of seven calendar days for such processes are expected to provide greater clarity in transaction handling.

The MoU was signed by H&UD Additional Secretary Suvendu Sahoo on behalf of the Odisha government and SBI DGM, D&TB, Sushant Kumar Dash on behalf of the bank. H&UD Additional Chief Secretary Usha Padhee and SBI Odisha Circle Chief General Manager Rakesh Yadav were present.

Padhee appreciated SBI’s support in strengthening the SUJOG platform and said the partnership would help improve the efficiency, accessibility and convenience of citizen services through digital payments.

Yadav assured the department of the bank’s continued support for implementing the initiative and strengthening the digital payment ecosystem under SUJOG.

The partnership is expected to strengthen the digital backbone of urban governance in Odisha by bringing municipal payment services onto a common platform, while improving transparency, transaction tracking and ease of payment for citizens across the state.