BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday launched the Odyssey City Card (OCC), a single payment option that citizens can use to pay for various utility services He also unveiled the ' My Odyseey Centre ' where citizens can get the smart cards. Initially, 25 such centres will operate in the city. The card, a first of its kind, will help people make easy and hassle-free payment for utilities like water tax, holding tax and parking fees as well as trade licence fee for traders. The card can also be used for retail shopping."The common city payment mechanism will facilitate cashless transactions for several citizen-based services across Bhubaneswar. We are happy to note that ICICI bank has partnered with us to introduce the card that will offer significant convenience to the residents," Naveen said soon after launching the facility.The cards will be available on paying Rs 50 each and will be valid for five years. Officials said the card will also be useful in buying tickets while commuting in city buses. "People can recharge their card by paying cash at the designated counters or make e-payment through customer portal. The partner bank will soon set up 300 more counters in city for facilitating recharge of the smart cards. Currently a card can be recharged with a maximum of Rs 10,000 in a month. But this limit will go up to Rs 1 lakh after a year," said an official source, adding that more utility services will be included in the days to come. Officials said altogether 325 point of sale machines will be installed at different locations. "The entire project has cost the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) Rs 20 crore," a BSCL official said.A survey conducted by the BSCL earlier had shown that the use of the card will help residents of the Smart City cut down on travel expenses to pay utility bills and save Rs 67 crore annually. The city boasts of a population of 10 lakh and survey shows that for making various payments, residents have to travel for around 9.45 crore km every year.

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