CoJ will now deliver municipal statements via SMS

SMSes will contain a link to the actual statement which can be viewed through a secured portal or send via email as per customers’ preference.

Image: iStock

Municipal bills that are ordinarily delivered via the South African Post Office (Sapo) or by email will continue to reach municipal account holders in the safety and comfort of their own homes during the Covid-19 lockdown period and beyond.

This is according to the City of Johannesburg, who proudly announced an initiative that forms part of the measures taken by the city during the lockdown.

“Sms notifications, containing customer invoices, will be sent to customers via their cell phones as it appears on our billing system. Smses will contain a link to the actual statement which can be viewed through a secured portal or send via email as per customers’ preference.

“Should customers feel the need to validate the Sms, they may visit the E-Services platform on joburg.org.za or register on the city’s E-services platform to receive their municipal statement/s via email,” explained CoJ in a statement.

To register on the city’s e-services platform: log onto the city’s website at www.joburg.org.za and select the “e-services” button on the home page. You will be asked to enter certain personal information and to choose a username and password.

Once registered, you can log on with your username and password;

According to the city, the advantages of the SMS (weblink billing) method of distributing municipal statements are as follows:

Customers will receive their statements almost immediately once billed;
Customers will receive their statements 1-2 days after it’s been produced, which means customers receive their statements well before the payment due date;
Customers can view their statements and manage their accounts from anywhere in the world;
Customers are able to view and pay immediately without having to wait for an actual invoice;
Customers won’t experience the inconvenience of delayed postage services.

“The city is trying to make it as safe, comfortable and easy as possible for our customers to receive, pay and manage their municipal accounts.”

The following methods may be used when paying monthly municipal accounts:

– Internet payments: Kindly arrange with your bank to add City of Johannesburg as a beneficiary. Most major banks have City of Johannesburg already pre-loaded as a beneficiary. Visit Standard Bank, ABSA, FNB, Nedbank etc. Your nine (9) digit municipal account number must be used as your unique customer reference number.

– Easy Pay: Pay at any retail outlet providing it is an Easy Pay facility. Pick n Pay Supermarkets, Shoprite Checkers, Spar Supermarkets and any Easy-Pay points, as well as other accredited vendor points. Remember to retain your slip as proof of payment. Simply use your previous month’s bill as reference. Be sure to pay before your account due date for processing the transaction. When making use of this facility, payments will only appear after three business days on the City’s billing system.

“The city wishes to thank our loyal paying customers and remind all customers to continue paying their municipal bills during the lockdown period on or before the applicable due date printed on their municipal statements. Should customers have a query on their municipal account/s, they may log a query by sending an email to Joburgconnect@joburg.org.za. It must be noted that the query will only be attended to once the query resolution team is back in office after the lockdown period.”

CoJ further advised that customers who may not have received their municipal statement for some or other reason, or do not know the balance on their statement, should continue paying the average monthly consumption in order to keep accounts up to date.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.