Eskom sets conversion deadline for ‘zero buyers’

Customers dubbed “zero buyers” who bought electricity tokens before the deadline of November 24 but cannot load them are called upon to visit Eskom centres by December 13, to complete their conversions from KRN1 to KRN2.

Eskom in a media statement said about 400 000 previous zero buyers had managed to become new paying customers and legitimately purchase electricity since the process to rollover was initiated.

It said the approximately 1.7 million zero buyers who had yet to convert must visit the Eskom centre by December 13.

Eskom said it completed its prepaid meter Key Revision Number (KRN) rollover on November 24.

This conversion comes as Eskom strives to improve customer service and tackle energy challenges while ensuring that all users comply with the updated system.

Eskom said 5.5 million customers out of 6.91 million have converted.

Qithi said the number includes 400 000 customers who did not buy electricity before the deadline.

“Eskom has a total of 7.25 million prepaid, thanks to the increased number of paying users.

But we are still observing around 1.7 million zero buyers, a reduction from the previous year’s 2.1 million average,” said Eskom

To ensure smooth operation and fairness to all users, Eskom has laid out a series of steps for those who have yet to fully comply with the KRN 2 conversion as follows:

– Paying customers who are experiencing difficulties with the conversion will be helped without penalty.

– Zero buyers with unresolved problems related to lost, bypassed or tampered with meters are required to come forward by December 13 but may be fined.

– Zero buyers, who did not buy electricity before the deadline, are encouraged to do so before December 13.

Their meter will be audited, and a fine may be issued for tampering.

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Eskom Group Executive for Distribution, Monde Bala said: “In the past 10 days, we saw zero buyers coming forward in huge numbers wanting to buy electricity and do the right thing. We will continue to treat these users with dignity and respect as we resolve these issues for all of them who did the right thing.
We acknowledge also that this was a complex process presenting a challenging set of issues and was at times fraught and we continue to monitor and stabilise the system to ensure a smooth customer experience. We express our gratitude to the tireless efforts of our Eskom staff who worked throughout the weekend to help our customers. We also thank various leaders of society including councillors, our stakeholders in communities and the different media houses across the country who assisted with the efforts,” Bala said.

Dan Marokane, Group Chief Executive said: “The result of this technology changeover has brought Eskom around 400 000 previous zero buyers to become new paying customers and provided us with a wealth of data to bring further zero buyers into legitimately purchasing electricity. Eskom is doing everything practically possible to make users of electricity pay for it in the interest of those who already pay for electricity, maintain the sustainability of Eskom to drive the economic growth of South Africa and reduce our burden on the taxpayer.”

Tshwane MMC for Utility Services councillor Frans Boshielo said: “I am pleased to announce that the token identification rollover for prepaid meters was successfully implemented by the City with over 60% of customers adhering to Standard Transfer Specification (STS) 2.”

Boshielo said approximately 246 544 prepaid meters were upgraded in Tshwane by customers who loaded the tokens on their meters.

“Tshwane is now entering Phase 2 of the project. In this phase, the city is targeting approximately 111 741 prepaid meters that have not been upgraded. These prepaid meters are suspected to have been tampered with due to customers bypassing the system. We will dispatch our technical teams to audit all the outstanding meters. Prepaid meters found tampered with will be disconnected and a tamper fee will be loaded on accounts.

We thank the customers who have come forward during the rollout of Phase 1 and indicated that they had tampered with their meters and were willing to be legally reconnected to the grid,” Boshielo said.

“Most of these customers have indicated that they will struggle to pay the full price of the tamper fee of R29 000. The city has decided to allow customers to enter into payment agreements. Customers will be required to go to municipal customer care offices to make the necessary payment arrangement and their meter will be normalised and/or replaced,” said Boshielo.

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