City of Johannesburg shares how disconnection of water and electricity works
The City of Johannesburg has revealed charges that come with disconnections, notices and reconnections f water and electricity.
Being without water or power is a huge inconvenience. The City of Joburg has shared everything customers need to know about disconnections. Director for communication and stakeholder management Kgamanyane Maphologela shared that continued failure to pay municipal accounts leads to having services disconnected and it is also costly to have services reconnected.
Final demand notice
The Final Demand Notice is a legal notice that informs the consumer that payments are in arrears and a final demand for the payment of all outstanding amounts is made, with notification that if the demand is not met or an arrangement made with the City’s Credit Control Department, normally within 14 days, the supply of that service will be disconnected.
Charges for the disconnection will be included in your account. Once the full payment of the amount due or arrangements to pay off the amount has been signed with the City, a reconnection of services order will be issued. The City will issue the reconnection order and send a contractor to reconnect your meter. The reconnection of your services takes up to 72 hours to be fully effected.
Level 1 disconnection
A first-level electricity disconnection is a disconnection action that will be undertaken, normally by simply switching off the electricity in a lockable distribution box situated remotely from where the consumption takes place. Should the Final Demand Notice be ignored and payment not made within the prescribed time, the first-level electricity disconnection will normally be effected immediately.
Level 2 disconnection
A second-level electricity disconnection is normally removal of the circuit breaker. A second-level electricity disconnection normally follows within days of an illegal consumption inspection has established that an illegal electricity connection has been made.
Level 3 disconnection
Should illegal consumption continue, the customer’s account is referred to a special credit control process for ‘remove installation permanently’ action, with recommendations that the supply installations be permanently removed. If a Level 3 disconnection is performed and you have paid your account or made arrangements to pay, you will be required to pay a new service connection, as a Level 3 reconnection is considered to be a new connection. For a new connection you will need to:
- Submit proof of debt settlement / a debt arrangement letter from the City.
- Complete a new service connection at City’s customer service centre near you.
- Produce a certificate of compliance from an accredited electrician.
- It will take a minimum of 21 days to activate this new connection.
Pre Termination Notice
If you fail to pay your water account after 30 days of date of statement, the City will send you a pre termination notice. You must respond to this within 14 days. The charge for this notice is R273 inclusive of Vat.
Level 1 disconnection
If you fail to respond to the pre termination notice within 14 days, you will then incur a Level 1 disconnection without any further notice. If you pay the account or make a debt arrangements within 14 days, the City will reconnect the water supply. Failure to pay or to enter into a debt arrangement within 14 days will render your account liable for hand-over to the attorneys for legal action.
Upon receipt of payment or debt repayment arrangement, your water supply will be reinstated within 72 hours. If you fail to respond to the Level 1 disconnection within 14 days, the City will prepare the account to be handed to our attorneys for legal action.
A first-level water restricting device is normally a gadget, such as an orifice washer or similar water restricting device, installed on the incoming side of the water meter to restrict the supply to the customer’s property.
The restricted quantity will only provide the consumer with at least the basic minimum quantity of water he/she is entitled to in accordance with the free basic services policy of the City.
Level 3 disconnection
If the Level 1 disconnection is tampered with, a Level 3 disconnection will be implemented. If you incur a Level 3 disconnection you will no longer be a City’s customer. You will be required, therefore, to open a new account and pay a new deposit.
The water supply to residential properties will be restricted to allow for the 6kl free water quota in terms of the constitution. However, the water supply to commercial properties will be disconnected completely.
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