Once the conversion is complete, customers will receive monthly bills reflecting their electricity consumption on their City of Johannesburg municipal statements.
City Power has extended the deadline for converting non-vending prepaid meters to postpaid billing, giving affected households six months to comply with the new system.
The move targets households that are not purchasing electricity, often due to meter tampering or bypassing, as the utility seeks to recover lost revenue.
The utility’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, said the extension would allow customers more time to address outstanding issues.
“The conversion process, which was initially scheduled to conclude at the end of December 2025, has now been extended to 30 June 2026,” Mangena said.
He explained that the additional time was meant to help affected customers regularise their electricity supply, cooperate with ongoing meter audits, and engage with City Power to resolve billing and vending problems.
Billing system improvements underway
The conversion is part of the utility’s broader strategy to reduce revenue losses and address persistent issues across its network.
Mangena noted that the intervention remains part of its efforts to curb revenue losses, address illegal connections and tampered meters, and improve billing accuracy across the system.
“Since assuming the billing function, we have been hard at work stabilising and improving the billing system and methods to enhance customer experience and close historical revenue gaps caused by billing inefficiencies,” Mangena said.
He added that the prepaid-to-postpaid conversion is one of several interventions to address widespread billing inaccuracies that have generated numerous customer complaints and escalations.
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Solar customers also affected by changes
Households with solar photovoltaic installations currently using prepaid meters will not be exempt from the conversion process.
Mangena said these customers would also transition to postpaid accounts to ensure proper monitoring of their electricity usage and generation.
“This measure is necessary to ensure accurate accounting of electricity imports and exports, improve network management, and align solar PV customers with the appropriate billing framework,” he said.
Once the conversion is complete, customers will receive monthly bills reflecting their electricity consumption on their City of Johannesburg municipal statements.
Mangena explained that standard postpaid billing terms would apply, including service and network capacity charges. “Where applicable, reconciled consumption may be back-charged in
accordance with the city’s bylaws,” he added.
Meter audits to continue across Johannesburg
City Power plans to intensify inspections across the city to identify non-compliant customers and irregular connections.
According to Mangena, the utility has been conducting stand-by-stand meter audits to detect non-vending prepaid customers, bridged meters, and other violations.
Mangena urged residents to work with the utility’s technicians during these audits.
“City Power urges all affected customers to use the extended period to regularise their accounts and ensure compliance before the 30 June 2026 deadline,” Mangena said.
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