Joburg residents erroneously billed for Pikitup services

According to the City of Joburg, the error crept in after the new tariff structure for refuse was introduced in July resulting in several customers receiving statements with duplicate VAT charges.

The city council’s Director of Customer Communications Stanley Maphologela assured customers that the error was being rectified and the adjusted information would be reflected in their August statements.

According to Maphologela, the errors were detected through quality assurance checks conducted by the city council.

However, he said some customers had also spotted the error and raised concerns about being overcharged.

The city council apologised to all its customers who had been affected by the error.

“We are taking the necessary steps to rectify the errors, to inform customers about the error and to ensure that it is not repeated,” said Maphologela.

According to Denis Hunt, a DA councillor in the city council, the new Pikitup tariffs were inclusive of VAT unlike other tariffs.

He said as a result the recipients of the first statements to be issued in July were charged twice for VAT.

He explained that the city council’s billing department had unwittingly used the higher figure, which already included VAT, and then added a further VAT amount to the bill.

He advised residents to check their July statement to determine if they had been overcharged and to then check their forthcoming statement to ensure that the error had been rectified.

However, he said that as a general rule of practice, residents should thoroughly check their statements to ensure that they were being correctly billed.

“It is important for people check their bills for discrepancies and not merely assume that they are correct.”

Customers who had account queries could contact Joburg Connect on 0860 562874 or email joburgconnect@joburg.org.za.