Billing query escalation process explained
Ratepayers should use appropriate channels to escalate unresolved queries
City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) Group Finance Department is urging all ratepayers to follow the appropriate channels when escalating unresolved billing queries.
According to the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance, councillor Rabelani Dagada, the City’s escalation process is designed to assist ratepayers in logging and monitoring the resolution of their Joburg billing queries within the first 30 days of logging.
“We have devised a 30-day billing resolution process which should be followed by all customers to expedite the rectification of incorrectly issued municipal bills.
In essence this means that, when a query is logged, the City has 30 days to resolve it. There is recourse if a customer’s query is not dealt with satisfactorily, but ratepayers should not opt for this before waiting out the 30-day period,” the MMC said.
Ratepayers are encouraged to follow the escalation process if their queries are not dealt with during the first 30 days and the MMC added, “It is important for all residents to first log a query and only escalate it after the 30 days. this enables us to monitor performance.”
The MMC encouraged residents to familiarise themselves with the correct procedure to follow and to know when a query can be referred to the VIP Department. “Each CoJ billing query needs to be logged on the city’s SAP system before it can be resolved,” he said.
Ratepayers can escalate their CoJ billing query, if:
• The query is older than 30 days
• The reference number is older than 30 days
• The customer needs to demonstrate that the query has been escalated to line managers at the Customer Service Centres
• The query can only be referred once escalated tot eh identified offices responsible for VIP.
When ratepayers escalate their billing queries they need to supply the following information:
• Account number
• Reference number
• Accountholder’s name and surname
• Contact details
• Stand number
• Area
• Summary of complaint
The MMC urged residents to not bypass the query logging system, as doing so renders the CoJ unable to measure the impact of service provided, resulting in it not being able to achieve any improvement. “There are currently more than 40 000 queries being attended to and everyone is working hard to clear the backlog. Billing queries can be emailed toBackoffice@joburg.org.za, Backoffice1@joburg.org.za or Backofficequeries@joburg.org.za,” the MMC explained, adding that the CoJ remains committed to resolving all outstanding queries.
He assured all customers who have received incorrect bills that they will be resolved, and said, “We urge those affected to continue paying their municipal accounts. When an incorrect bill has been received, customers should continue to pay their normal monthly amount and ensure that a query has been logged. Neglecting to pay a municipal account entirely because it’s incorrect, will leave ratepayers’ accounts in arrears.”
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