Prepaid electricity meters: Failing to update could cost customers up to R12,000
Eskom states that customers with prepaid electricity meters still on KRN1 likely haven’t purchased electricity for six months or longer.
Eskom warns that customers who fail to update their prepaid electricity meters to Key Revision Number (KRN) 2 by 24 November could face costs of up to R12,000.
Prepaid electricity customers must update their meters as required by the Standard Transfer Specification Association (STSA) by 24 November, and Eskom has reiterated that the deadline will not be extended.
LATEST ON PREPAID ELECTRICITY METERS
South Africa reportedly has an estimated 12 million prepaid electricity customers while just over six million are supplied by Eskom.
Eskom said meters still using KRN1 will no longer accept electricity tokens after the deadline. This means that once the customer’s current credit is depleted, they will lose power, and the meter will be inoperable, necessitating a replacement that could cost up to R12 000, which the customer will have to pay.
Eskom’s distribution executive, Monde Bala, said customers with meters still on KRN1 have likely not purchased electricity for more than six months or might be using unauthorised tokens bought from criminal syndicates.
“To prevent the meter from becoming inoperable, losing power, and incurring replacement costs, it is critical that all customers, including those who have not purchased electricity in the last six months or more, buy electricity tokens from authorised vendors by 24 November.
“This will provide them with two sets of 20-digit codes needed to re-code and update their prepaid electricity meters,” Bala said.
HOW TO CHECK AND RE-CODE
- Enter 1844 6744 0738 4377 241 on your prepaid electricity meter keypad.
- If it shows 1 or 1.2 your meter still needs to be re-coded
- If it shows 2 or 2.2, the meter is updated and requires no further action.
- To complete the re-coding, enter the first 20 digits of the re-code token.
- Enter the second 20 digits of the re-code token.
- Finally, enter the 20-digit token from your latest electricity purchase to recharge your prepaid electricity meter.