Why pay for so-called benefit?
Why does the council not use the people who deliver the letters of demand to deliver the accounts?
CHRISTO STASSEN writes:
I refer to the article on the payment of electricity accounts. The councillor is correct when stating that everybody must pay his account.
The electricity supply agreement is a contract in terms of which the council and I do business. The council has the obligation to supply uninterrupted electricity and my obligation is to pay for the electricity I consumed.
The council has the additional obligation to inform me of the amount of electricity I consumed. Usually it does so by providing a statement or account. The account is delivered at the instance of the council by the post office, who by law is the council’s agent.
The council has not performed properly in terms of the supply agreement until it has informed me of my consumption. This is even more the case because my electricity meter is not in my house but in a box in the street which the council locks and is therefore not accessible to me.
I therefore do not have to pay until I am informed of the amount due to the council.
I can find out what my account is via the internet. To be able to do that I must first register and accept the conditions laid down by the council. One of these conditions is that I may not dispute the account. This is unacceptable.
Why would I assume the council’s obligation, and on top of it, pay for the so-called benefit?
This brings me to the next point. My account is finalised at about the 14/15th of the month and irrespective of whether the council has delivered it to me, I am expected to pay the account by the 21st of the month. This is insane.
If I do not pay, the council manages to have a letter of demand delivered to me, in some instances even before I got the account. To add insult to injury, I am expected to pay a fee for the benefit of the notification. This is a legal fee to which the council is not entitled.
Why does the council not use the people who deliver the letters of demand to deliver the accounts? They seem to be much more efficient that the post office.
