City Power clarifies confusion around the surcharges of newly installed meters
City Power's surcharges are backdated service charges that have been accruing since May 2024.

City Power has clarified the confusion around the surcharges of newly installed prepaid meters.
The power utility’s spokesperson Isaac Mangena said City Power received concerns from some customers who recently had the new meters installed, particularly during the KRN2 project in November last year.
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“These customers raised concerns about the deductions, referred to as surcharges, that occur each time they purchase electricity units. We would like to provide clarity to address these concerns and ensure our customers fully understand the situation,” he said.
Mangena explained that the deductions that were made were not overcharges, nor were they caused by any faults with the new meters. The surcharges were backdated service charges that have been accruing since the introduction of new tariffs in May 2024, with the service charge itself implemented in July 2024.
“For customers who received new meters, the City Power system reconciles the meter data for each property and automatically calculates the outstanding charges from the past six months. For most residential customers, this amounts to a total of R1 200 (excluding VAT) for the period between July and December 2024.”
He added when a customer purchased electricity with their newly installed meter, the system deducted a portion of the outstanding balance from each electricity purchase to recover the backdated service charges.
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“For example, if a customer buys R100 worth of electricity, the system will allocate not more than R50 depending on the debt towards settling the outstanding service charges, while the remaining amount will be converted into electricity units. This deduction process will continue with every purchase until the full R1 200 (excluding VAT) has been recovered.”
Once the backdated service charges are fully paid, the customer will be liable for the ongoing monthly service charge of R200 (excluding VAT). It is important to note that this R200 charge has been added to accounts since the service charge’s implementation in July 2024 and will continue to accrue every month going forward.
Customers are encouraged to stay on top of their electricity purchases to avoid future accumulations of service charges.
The spokesperson encouraged customers who struggled with service charges to apply for the Expanded Social Package (ESP).
“This programme provides free electricity allocations and reduced service charges for qualifying customers. The ESP is available to assist vulnerable customers in managing their electricity costs.”
For business prepaid customers, the service charge is higher, amounting to R1 500 per month. In this case, if a business customer purchases electricity for less than R1 500, no electricity tokens will be issued until the basic service charge is paid in full. This ensures that the required service fee is recovered before additional electricity units are allocated.
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