Pre-paid electricity system now stable
After many glitches in the new system, the municipality has ensured customers of stability.
ETHEKWINI’s new electricity vending system is now stable and customers can purchase and load electricity into their prepaid meters without any glitches.
The city’s Electricity Unit said the minor glitches, which were detected last week and subsequently resolved, were caused by the city’s database not being fully updated and because some customers had failed to register their details.
The municipality started implementing a new vending system and during the implementation phase some electricity meters did not appear on the municipality’s database.
In cases where the meter did not appear on the database, the affected customer could not load electricity into their electricity meter.
The Electricity Unit said necessary action had been taken to resolve the problem. As of last week, 300 000 customers had been able to successfully purchase electricity. Less than 300 queries had been received by the municipality, which have since been addressed.
Customers who might still be experiencing problems with their prepaid meters are urged to visit the municipal customer service centres where they will be assisted.
For temporary registration, customers are required to provide the following information: Copy of identity documents, proof of residential address or letter from the local councillor, electricity meter number and their contact details.
Customers can visit services centres at Pinetown Customer Services, Pinetown Civic Centre 60 Kings Road. Durban: Central Customer Services, The Rotunda, 1 Jelf Taylor Crescent.
