The JB Marks Local Municipality issues a notice to registered indigent households clarifying how Free Basic Electricity (FBE) tokens are allocated and used on prepaid electricity meters.

The municipality said it has received numerous enquiries from residents who reported that their FBE tokens were either not generated or were not accepted by their prepaid electricity meters or keypads.

Municipal spokesperson Jeanette Tshite explained that the allocation of Free Basic Electricity is automatically issued by the municipal system when an indigent customer makes their first prepaid electricity purchase for the month.

“The Free Basic Electricity allocation is automatically generated when a registered indigent customer makes their first prepaid electricity purchase within a given month,” Tshite said.

She added that during the first transaction of the month, customers will receive an additional 20-digit token representing the allocated free electricity units.

“This token must be entered into the prepaid electricity meter in order to load the free units,” Tshite said.

According to the municipality, once the FBE token has been successfully entered and the units have been loaded onto the meter, no additional FBE tokens will be generated for the remainder of that month.

Residents are therefore encouraged to carefully check and enter all tokens received during their first electricity purchase of the month to ensure that the allocated free units are correctly loaded.

Tshite said residents who require further information or assistance can visit their nearest municipal office or the municipality’s electricity department.