Eskom’s pre-paid customers who fail to update their electricity meters by Sunday, November 24, could pay R12 000 for a new prepaid meter.

All prepayment meters, based on Standard Transfer Specification technology, will stop dispensing electricity on November 24. All meters using KRN1 (Key Revision Number 1) technology will cease to accept new electricity tokens after that date. Once the current credit runs out, these meters will become inoperable, requiring replacement at the customer’s expense.

All customers must buy tokens from authorised vendors by the deadline. “This purchase provides the two 20-digit codes needed to recode and update their meters,” said Monde Bala, Eskom’s Group Executive for Distribution. Customers with meters still operating on KRN1 have likely not purchased electricity for over six months or might be using unauthorised tokens bought from criminal syndicates, he added.

According to Eskom’s Key Revision Dashboard, as of November 18, the utility has provided 6,9 million prepaid meters to customers yet only 4,7 million key change tokens have been issued with 5 million meters transacting on KRN2 – 32% (about 2,2 million meters) have not yet been updated, leaving many customers at risk of incurring replacement costs.

According to the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), recording progress, of the 4 041 613 municipal meters needing updates, 3 707 717 have been successfully reset.

Many of the meters still on KRN1 are non-vending as they are either faulty or bypassed, said Silas Mulaudzi, SALGA Energy Specialist. He reassured municipal customers that meters still on KRN1 after November 24 will not become obsolete. “Once existing credits are depleted, these meters will reject new credit tokens. However, customers can visit their local municipality to receive a new key change token to reset their meter, making it functional again.”

Customer support

Customers can verify their meter readiness by entering 1844 6744 0738 4377 2416 on the meter keypad. If the display indicates 1 or 1.2, the meter must be re-coded. If it shows 2 or 2.2, the meter is updated and requires no further action.

To complete the re-coding:

• Enter the first 20 digits of the recode token.
• Enter the second 20 digits of the recode token.
• Finally, enter the 20-digit token from the latest electricity purchase to recharge the meter.

To make the re-coding process accessible for customers, Eskom has set up community support teams who will assist over the weekend. Self-service tools are also available such as Eskom’s Alfred chatbot.