Extra charges explained by CoJ
Affected customers' bills will be rectified as soon as possible
“How can the municipality just add charges to your account without letting you know? It is not the correct procedure,” an angry resident asked.
The additional charges consisting of a service charge of R112,02 and a network charge of R330 were, according to account holders, not communicated to them at all, and they demand to know why they have to pay the extra amount. The majority of these accounts belong to either pensioners or customers making use of pre-paid electricity.
According to the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment and Infrastructure, councillor Nico de Jager, almost 15 000 City Power customers were erroneously billed for the additional network and service charges.
““These customers make up some of our poorest residents and it is vital that we protect their interests and not add to their burden,” he said.
Vivian Jonker, a Helderkruin resident, was quite surprised when she noticed her accounts for May and June were higher than usual. She noticed two additional charges they have not been required to pay before. “What exactly is this ‘demand side service levy’ on my CoJ (City of Johannesburg) account ?” she wanted to know, and quite a few other residents echoed her sentiments.
De Jager clarified the reason for the additional billing as follow, “Before the implementation of the Expanded Social Package (ESP), City Power had a Lifeline Tariff for customers who had a monthly consumption of less than 500kWh, which did not include the network and service charges. Qualifying customers on this tariff received free basic electricity (FBE),” he explained.
But, with the implementation of the ESP, it was discontinued and all customers had to apply for FBE via ESP. “It came to the attention of City Power that some customers were still receiving a Lifeline Tariff, even though it did not exist anymore, resulting in their being migrated to the CoJ ordinary tariff, without due consideration to the impact this would have on some of the poorest residents,” he said.
These actions resulted in some customers having their Lifeline Tariff incorrectly removed from their May and June account, and charges added. “I have met with officials from City Power who acknowledged that there should have been adequate communication on this matter, even though communication was sent to customers via SMS, statements and the City Power call centre voice recording system,” said De Jager.
He assured affected customers that their accounts will be rectified and all additional charges will be reversed as soon as possible.
“Customers currently registered with the ESP and are using less than 500kWh monthly, will be required to apply for a Lifeline Tariff. They will only be charged pre-paid tariffs without the network and service charges. All new applications, as well as re-applications will be done and approved on an annual basis,” he concluded.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
