Durban – The eThekwini Municipality has provided an update on its roll-out of key change tokens for prepaid electricity meter customers after some customers experienced challenges.
The municipality said it was aware that some customers were experiencing challenges with receiving their key change tokens, which will allow for their prepaid meter software to be updated after purchasing prepaid electricity.
It said that the delays came about because not all areas in the City had been loaded onto the system as this was being implemented in phases.
The municipality said that 90% of the areas were now able to receive key change tokens and it was expected that by Thursday all 463 000 prepaid meter customers would receive their key change tokens when purchasing prepaid electricity.
eThekwini is fast-tracking the issuing of key change tokens to ensure that prepaid customers are still able to purchase electricity tokens as the prepaid electricity meter software must be updated before November 2024.
The municipality said that when purchasing a prepaid electricity token, customers will receive two sets of 20-digit numbers. These tokens will automatically be made available when buying a recharge token from all vendors selling eThekwini electricity, including banking apps. The key change tokens will only be issued as a one-off and it is imperative for residents to enter the two key change tokens prior to entering the recharge token.
The municipality also advised customers to ensure that they redeem all previously purchased tokens before entering the key change token as these would be invalid once the key change token had been loaded.
“We want to advise our prepaid customers that this is a do-it-yourself (DIY) initiative. The key change tokens are clearly marked in the sequence that they must be loaded in. Customers must ensure that they upload the first two key change tokens in sequence before entering the recharging token for the meter to roll over. It is important for customers to redeem all previously purchased tokens before entering the key change token as these would be invalid once the key change token has been loaded,” said Electricity head Maxwell Mthembu.
He said customers must note that the key change tokens were free of charge and residents should not let anyone into their home pretending to offer help with updating prepaid meters.
It was important for customers to ensure that the key change tokens are entered into the meter because if they are not entered, they will not be able to make the next purchase of prepaid electricity.
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