THE public letter which was written by eThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo and printed in the Highway Mail about the confusion over the billing system, have raised many questions from the public.
Residents said they were not satisfied with the mayor’s letter as it did not explain the real reason for the disruptions.
People wanted to know if this hiccup was caused by the new billing system and why they were not advised before the new billing system kicked in that there was to be a delay in them receiving their utility bills.
One resident said he went to the Sizakala Centre to try to get his statement but was told to contact the call centre to find out how much he owed or to register with the e-service system.
“My question is, are there enough operators to attend to each and everyone?
The resident said he has tried numerous times to view his bill on e-services with no luck as the system said it did not recognise his account number.
Rick Crouch, Ward 10 councillor, said he does not think that it was a coincidence that the go live date for the RMS system and the billing problems are occurring at the same time.
“The municipality may say that they have been using the RMS system with a certain number of customers for a few months now, however that was without the electricity and water billing, they only recently added those metered items to the system and those are the exact areas where we are seeing problems, those that are lucky enough to be receiving their bills are seeing that they do not include electricity etcetera.”
Crouch said he had heard all kinds of excuses including the unbelievable, ‘the city ran out of envelopes’. “Well why are the emailed bills not being received?”
“The city just needs to come clean on what the actual problem is, but they will never admit that it is the fault of the R600 billion Revenue Management System,” he said.
Tozi Mthethwa, eThekwini Municipality head of communications, said the delays with residents receiving their bills are not related to the implementation of the new billing system.
“We acknowledge that there were delays in bills being posted and e-mailed. This matter has been addressed and residents should be receiving their bills timeously before the end of this month.
“Customers who did not receive their bills are urged to pay the average amount they normally pay, or have paid in previous months.”The Council will apply the Credit Control Policy only in cases where the customer is in excessive arrears.”
Mthethwa said the Municipality’s e-Services application is operating well and has been in use for more than three years.
“Residents can register online under the Municipality’s e-Services application (www.durban.gov.za) and view their bills.
“Once registered online they can opt to receive their bill by e-mail. Customers can also download the Municipal app to view their bills.
“There is also the option to pay accounts by direct debit. Customers can indicate the maximum amount to be deducted monthly.
“All customer’s accounts that have been paid, will be correctly allocated to the correct account number.”
She added that during the past five years, the municipality has achieved a renewed adherence to good governance, ensuring that, in pursuit of service delivery, they ensure absolute compliance with legislation.
“We remain committed to providing an efficient service to all residents and wish to continue to openly engage with ratepayers over any issues of concern,” said Mthethwa.
