Pre-paid Meter Rollover Project Brings in Around 400,000 Zero Buyers

Wednesday 27 November 2024: Eskom has successfully completed its pre-paid meter Key Revision Number (KRN) rollover project.

Following the deadline being reached for the pre-paid meters to be updated to KRN 2 at 20:15 on Sunday, 24 November 2024, the key initial findings indicate:

• Starting off with a customer base of 6.91 million prepaid customers, all customers have been converted to KRN 2. A data cleaning exercise fully updated the incomplete details of 341,000 customers to bring Eskom’s base to 7.25 million.
• As of 24 November 2024, approximately 5.5 million customers (which includes the around 400,000 zero buyers who have become paying customers) have successfully rolled over and are transacting on KRN 2.
• Eskom is currently observing a decrease in the zero buyer numbers to around 1.7 million from the previous 12-month rolling average of 2.1 million. We request these customers to do what is right by Friday, 13 December 2024, by visiting their nearest Eskom sites.
• Zero buyers who bought electricity tokens before the deadline of 24 November 2024 and cannot load must come back to Eskom centres by Friday, 13 December 2024.

Recommended actions to be taken.

• All paying customers who had bought electricity before the deadline and have had their meters made KRN 2 compliant and who are experiencing difficulty will be assisted to complete the process and will not be unfairly penalised. These customers are advised to use Alfred the Chatbot, Eskom Contact Centre: Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and WhatsApp.

• For those zero buyers who bought electricity before the deadline and were unable to load their meters, they must bring their slips/tokens to the nearest Eskom Hub by Friday 13 December 2024 to be assisted. Customers are urged not to wait for the last day of the extension.

• Zero buyers who bought electricity before the deadline but have a meter-related matter such as a lost, bypassed, or tampered meter, must come forward at Eskom centres by Friday 13 December 2024. Their individual situations will be assessed, tamper fines issued if required and meter updates and replacements will then be scheduled.

• Those who have come forward but did not buy or attempt to buy electricity tokens by 24 November 2024 are encouraged to purchase electricity tokens before 13 December 2024. Their meters will be audited, and tamper fines and meter replacement costs will be assessed and issued accordingly. They can come forward at any time.

• The approximately 1.7 million zero buyers should do what is right by Friday, 13 December 2024 at an Eskom centre.

“In the past ten days, we saw zero buyers coming forward in huge numbers wanting to buy electricity and do the right thing. We will continue to treat these users with dignity and respect as we resolve these issues for all of them who did the right thing. We acknowledge also that this was a complex process presenting a challenging set of issues and was at times fraught and we continue to monitor and stabilise the system to ensure a smooth customer experience. We express our gratitude to the tireless efforts of our Eskom staff who worked throughout the weekend to help our customers. We also thank various leaders of society including councillors, our stakeholders in communities and the different media houses across the country who assisted with the efforts,” said Monde Bala, Eskom’s Group Executive for Distribution.

“The result of this technology changeover has brought Eskom around 400,000 previous zero buyers to become new paying customers and provided us with a wealth of data to bring further zero buyers into legitimately purchasing electricity. Eskom is doing everything that is practically possible to make users of electricity pay for it in the interest of those who already pay for electricity, maintain the sustainability of Eskom to drive the economic growth of South Africa and reduce our burden on the taxpayer,” stated Dan Marokane, Group Chief Executive, Eskom.

Assistance continues this week and beyond

For paying customers who are experiencing issues Eskom asks in the first instant to use Alfred the Chatbot, Eskom Contact Centre: Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and WhatsApp.

Link to Eskom-accredited electricity vending outlets across the country:  https://www.eskom.co.za/distribution/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024123Vending-outlets.xlsx

Courtesy of Eskom

About Eskom and Electricity – Regional Power Supply: Eskom supplies electricity to neighboring countries like Lesotho, Botswana, and Namibia.