Joburg pumps R25 million into app to help resolve billing issues

Soon there will be no need for queuing at municipal offices to resolve billing issues, if the promises for Joburg’s new mayor Mpho Moerane are to be believed.

The City of Johannesburg on Wednesday launched its first bill management app and online portal for its customers, in a bid to alleviate the backlog of unresolved billing queries and to do away with long queues and waiting periods for residents challenging the billing system.

Moerane says he is confident that with this system, the billing crisis in Johannesburg will be solved.

So far, the city has spent R25 million building the online platform and app, and more expenditure is expected as features are added and upgraded.

The city is facing a massive backlog of incorrect bills queried by customers, an issue residents have raised for over five years.

Moerane believes this milestone will relieve Joburg customers of the inconvenience of long queues or phone calls to query their bills. Customers are still welcomed to use traditional means to access billing services though.

“They key thing that I am happy about today is that it’s going to fix our billing problems. We will make sure that our entitities, City Power and Joburg Water get accurate meter readings that we will load on the system,” says Moerane.

“In two week’s time I’m told that a customer can now load his or her own meter readings on the portal and immediately get an account and obviously pay the bill.”

The city boasts that the system will also improve revenue collection, which has an average collection rate of 90% on a monthly basis.

Finance MMC Matshidiso Mfikoe says the city suffers significant losses from leaks, broken meters, and other billing issues which the e-Joburg system is designed to solve. Residents will be able to report issues with meter readings and bills as they happen.

The next phase of integrating the system will allow customers to use WhatsApp to manage their bills as well, a feature which is expected to launch in February next year. Users will also be able to process acknowledgements of debt and make payment arrangements remotely next year.

The new billing system can allow primary account holders to delegate the bill, for instance to a tenant. With this option tenants can pay their utilities directly to the city and the landlord will be able to track this activity. Copies of statements can be accessed for a period of two years via the app and the e-Joburg platform.

Also Read: Joburg to take over Soweto power supply, R7 billion Eskom customer debt

Cyber secure?

Quizzed on how secure the system is from data breaches and other forms of cyber attack, Moerane says he is confident residents’ data is safe. This is because the project is managed by the same company responsible for the South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) e-Filing system, Interfile (Internet Filing Pty Ltd).

“We have never heard somebody say that e-filing has been hacked, so we are confident that it won’t be hacked and people’s information is very safe.”

While Interfile is the only service provider for the portal currently, the city plans to hire more companies onto the project as features are added to the system. Mfikoe says the city will spare no expense to make the app a success.

“We have already spent about R25 million, so of course, as we add applications or functions in the program, there will be additional monies that are going to add,” says Mfikoe.

Moerane’s ultimate goal with the portal is to create a one-stop-shop for residents to interact with the city, from reporting potholes and faulty traffic lights, to querying and paying bills.

Simnikiweh@citizen.co.za