Fined R108.69 for blank final notice
There was also no reason for the final notice to have been delivered
CLAIRE BIRNBAUM writes:
I paid my November municipal account on December 14 as usual. I have the bank statement and the e-Siyakhokha payment history to prove it.
On January 8 I received a final notice – a blank form, either no ink in the printer or no reason to state – stuck into my backdoor.
I called customer services which, by the way, is always available and efficient, who told me not to worry as the payment was only recorded on January 6 because of the holidays. My electricity would not be cut off, so I did not give it another thought.
My statement for January shows payment for November and December recorded only on January 16 and I was fined R108.69 for a final notice, which had no reason to be issued in the first place.
I have lodged a complaint on their website but with no hope to get an answer or credit, this must be the new way they found to subsidise leave pay for municipal employees. It is highway robbery.
Themba Gadebe, metro spokesman, replies:
Upon investigation it was found that due to a technical error, not all payments received on December 14 and December 31 were included in the daily allocation files. This resulted in a limited number of consumers erroneously being issued with final notices on January 6 and 7, in conjunction with consumers that are actually in default.
The affected payments were automatically allocated on subsequent payment files received on January 6 and 7.
The system flags accounts automatically reflecting as being in arrears and the payments not reflecting timeously on the consumer’s account as per the original payment date. Some consumers were incorrectly flagged and therefore issued with final notices.
Affected customers’ accounts will be credited with the final notice fee that was incorrectly charged and a credit should reflect on their next account.
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality wishes to apologise to its customers who were affected by this technical error.
The issue of the blank notice received by the complainant was extensively investigated on previous instances when this was brought to the attention of council.
The suppliers were contacted to advise of possible reasons why only a limited number of notices in any given batch presents this problem.
The stationery as well as printing equipment were checked and confirmed as not to be the reason. The final notice is printed on continuous carbonised stationery, whereby the top page covers the carbonised copy with the confidential information.
The only conclusion is that some pages detached from the carbonised page during the printing process, thereby not printing on the second page or being unclear. Unfortunately, council can’t confirm when this happened as the visible portions do reflect as being printed clear. Council, together with its supplier, is in contact with various specialists to ensure that an acceptable resolution be found and requests patience in resolving this issue.
Should any resident be unclear as to the above they are requested to contact the Kempton Park credit control section.
