State-owned electricity provider Eskom reports that 6.6 million out of its 6.9 million prepayment meters have been successfully precoded, ensuring customers can continue to purchase electricity seamlessly beyond the November 24th deadline.
Recoding Deadline and Importance
This date marks the cutoff for all prepaid meters in South Africa to be recoded to maintain compatibility with prepaid tokens.
Eskom’s Dual Approach to Streamline Recoding
Eskom has adopted a dual approach to facilitate the recoding process for customers using prepaid meters. Monde Bala, Eskom Group Distribution executive, explains, “We decided to concentrate resources on precoding meters through our central systems, while still encouraging the do-it-yourself (DIY) method.”
Importance of Using Old Credit Tokens Before Recoding
Eskom urges customers to use all previously purchased credit tokens from authorized vendors before entering their new meter recoding tokens.
“This is crucial as old credit tokens will not function after the meter is recoded by a customer through the DIY process,” Bala emphasizes.
Precoding and Recoding Processes
In the precoding phase, Eskom prepares the meters for the issuance of recoding tokens, which precedes the actual recoding, a DIY process.
For DIY recoding, customers whose meters have been precoded for Key Revision Number rollover must purchase top-up prepaid electricity tokens from authorized vendors and enter these key change tokens into their meters. The process of buying electricity remains unchanged.
Monitoring and Support
Eskom monitors the progress of the Key Revision Number rollover through a dashboard and provides customer support via various simplified mechanisms.
Additionally, easy-to-follow guides are available on Eskom’s communication channels, including social media platforms, the Alfred Chatbot, and the Eskom website, says Bala.