Rosettenville, Regents Park flats owner hits out at City Power over monthly tariffs on empty meters

Razia Essop, the owner of blocks of flats in Rosettenville and Regents Park, expressed outrage over City Power’s monthly tariffs, which she claims she has to pay despite having no tenants.

She told the Southern Courier that City Power locked the meters, and she couldn’t buy electricity for them. Now, City Power tells her that she owes them, although it was City Power that locked these meters. Her problem is that they did not properly inform her about the consequences and the procedure involved.

“If you do not have a tenant, the property owner must still pay the tariff, but City Power does not have a system in which you can pay this every month. The meter will be blocked, and when you report that you have a tenant, they unblock the meters. Any balance of the tariff accrued while blocked remains payable to City Power.

“If they open the meter even though the place does not have a tenant, you must pay as though you have one. For instance, if you purchase R200 units, City Power will deduct R100 towards the tariff, and R100 will be for tenant usage even though the place has no tenants. You still owe R100 towards the tariff,” she said.

City Power explains the process

Isaac Mangena, City Power spokesperson, said the customer visited City Power’s Reuven service delivery centre (SDC) and informed the customer service representative responsible for metering that she currently had 11 unoccupied apartments, each with a prepaid meter.

To prevent these meters from being flagged as non-vending, which could indicate possible tampering or bypassing, she requested that City Power temporarily block them on the system during periods when the apartments are unoccupied, and then unblock them when new tenants move in.

Her intention was also to avoid incurring the R200 monthly fixed charge (R70 service charge and an R130 network capacity charge) while the apartments were vacant.

“If the meters were flagged as non-vending, she risked disconnection, which could result in reconnection fees of approximately R14 000 per meter. When the SDC agreed to this request, the customer assumed that the fixed monthly charges would not apply during this period, and only became aware of the accumulated fixed charges once the meters were later reactivated.

“While the fixed charge remains applicable regardless of consumption or vending activity, we acknowledge there may have been a misunderstanding in this case. The matter has since been clarified directly with the customer, where we explained the applicable monthly service charge structure.

“Customers on the residential prepaid high tariff begin contributing toward fixed monthly charges, an R70 service charge and an R130 network capacity charge (excluding VAT), from July 1, 2024.

“These charges remained unchanged when we implemented the 2025/26 tariff increase.

“We informed customers that, when purchasing electricity units, the system automatically deducts a portion of the payment to cover the R200 monthly fixed charge, while the remainder is used to purchase electricity units.

“If a customer does not purchase electricity for several months, the system accumulates the outstanding monthly fixed charges. Once the customer resumes purchasing electricity, a portion of each transaction will go toward settling the debt.

“For example, if a customer purchases R100 worth of electricity, up to R50, depending on the outstanding balance, it will be allocated to recovering unpaid service charges, while the rest will be converted into electricity units.

“This deduction will continue with each purchase until the full R2 400 (excluding VAT) in backdated charges is recovered.

“This applies whether the meter is vending or not. If it is not vending (or is locked, as in this case), the system will still recover the backdated service charges. Once the outstanding balance is fully paid, the customer will then only be liable for the ongoing monthly service charge of R200 (excluding VAT).

“We encourage customers to make regular electricity purchases to avoid the accumulation of unpaid service charges,” explained Mangena.