Final notices issued by the City of Ekurhuleni have been a bone of contention for many residents for a very long time.
Themba Gadebe, spokesperson for the metro, said the City of Ekurhuleni issued final notices in line with its credit control and debt collection policy, as per the Local Government Municipal Systems Act.
Due to constant complaints concerning credit control matters, the City of Ekurhuleni wishes to draw residents’ attention to the following facts:
• The monthly account due date represents the date on which the customer’s account becomes due and payable.
• The due date shall be as determined by the council from time to time.
• The account due date will be reflected on a customer’s account statement. Only payments received through the council’s financial system on or before the account due date, will be deemed to have been duly received.
• Payments by customers through third-party vendors will only be deemed to have been received when receipted through the council’s financial system. As per important notice seven on the reverse side of your statement, third-party system payments must be made no later than seven days prior to due date.
• If a consumer fails to pay the full amount due and payable on or before the account due date, the unpaid amount is in arrears and a final demand notice (pre-termination notice) shall be sent. This is to advise the consumer that their account is in arrears and qualifies for disconnection/ restriction.
• An administrative fee will be levied against the account of a customer in terms of the tariff provisions of the council in respect of any action taken in demanding payment from the customer or reminding the customer by means of a notice delivered by mail, by hand or any electronic means available, that the account is in arrears.
• The council or duly appointed agent may terminate and/or restrict the supply of water, electricity or in the case of pre-paid electricity, withhold the selling of electricity in terms of the prescribed disconnection procedures, or discontinue any other service to any premises associated with the customer, whenever a consumer of any service, after the expiry of the period for payment in terms of the final demand/final notice referred above, fails to make full payment on the due date or fails to make acceptable arrangements for the repayment of any amount for municipal services, property rates or taxes or other amounts due.
The City of Ekurhuleni has further, in addition to the monthly statements posted, also made alternative platforms available whereby any consumer who did not receive their statement on time can obtain a duplicate through www.e-siykhokha.co.za.
This platform was created to help consumers register online and select various options, including how to receive monthly statements.
“It is therefore important to note that non-receipt of a statement does not exempt any consumer from paying their accounts. To prevent the misfortune of receiving a pre-termination notice or other implemented credit control process, the full monthly account must be paid before the due date,” Gadebe said.
