ETHEKWINI MAYOR, Zandile Gumede announced at a special meeting of council this week that an investigation was underway into the issue of incorrect billing of residents. Voicing her concern on the matter, Gumede said it was hoped a speedy resolution would be found.
Last week, the city urged customers to check their city utility bills on a monthly basis and contact the city if they required clarity on issues pertaining to their account. According to Peet du Plessis, Head of Revenue Management, the City processes a large number of bills per month. “We deal with an excess of a million bills per month. The few that have deemed to be inaccurate could be as a result of meter reading challenges and in some instances, human error during the process of capturing readings,” he said.
Gumede also announced this week the launch of a Mayoral Response Office that will deal with these complaints. In addition, the launch of a one number call centre for all city complains is imminent.
“Currently different departments in the City such as water and electricity have different numbers for their call centres. We will soon be launching the one number for all the City’s call centres. Also, staff will be retrained to ensure that everything is in order,” she said.
In the meantime, customers who have queries regarding their bills can email revline@durban.gov.za or call 031 3245000.
Electricity meter readings can be sent to custocare@elec.durban.gov.za, call 080 1313 111 or SMS 083 7000 819.
