Prepaid electricity meter upgrade: ALL your questions answered
As of Sunday, 24 November 2024, a new series of electricity vending codes will be introduced to all meters in South Africa.
RELATED | Cape Town COMPLETES prepaid electricity meter updates ahead of deadline
This change will ensure that the meter’s key change code does not expire and as a result, South Africans have been tasked with recoding their own meters.
Meters WILL expire
Eskom has provided guidelines for consumers to check whether their meters need upgrading.
Eskom has informed customers, who make use of the prepaid meters, that from 24 November onwards, the usage of the current vending codes of meters will expire.
Once the meters have expired, new credit tokens will not be accepted, and as a consequence, the meters will be unable to dispense electricity once the existing credit has been depleted.
Each credit token has a unique token identifier which is encoded in 20 digits and contributes to the prevention of token replay at meters.
These credit tokens reference a base date of 1993 and are set to run out of range on 24 November 2024 and as of this date, the prepaid meters will no longer accept new tokens.
Thereby, if your meter has not been recoded, it will not accept credit tokens purchased and it will no longer be functional.
Affected customers have been urged to take action to ensure that their meters continue to function and that they remain able to top up the meters as needed.
In order to comply with the above, all prepaid meters must be recoded regardless of whether customers are Eskom customers or municipally supplied customers.
How to check if your prepaid meter needs an upgrade
Customers can check whether their meter has been recoded to KRN2 or is still on KRN1, by entering the code 1844 6744 0738 4377 2416 into the prepaid meter and waiting for the code to be accepted.
The screen will display either the number 1 or 2, and in some cases, there may also be alphabetic letters alongside the KRN number.
Number 1 means your meter is still on KRN1 and needs to be recoded / upgraded to KRN2.
Here’s how to recode your own meter
- When purchasing an electricity token, customers will receive two 20-digit numbers
- Key in the first 20 digit number (to be found on the recode token) and wait for it to be accepted
- Key in the second 20 digit number and wait for it to be accepted
- Lastly, key in the 20 digits of your purchased token to recharge your meter
It is also important to note that any electricity tokens bought in advance will not work once the meter has been recoded.
MORE FAQS
Is there a charge by Eskom to recode your meter?
No, there is no charge for this recoding, and you should report it to Eskom if anyone wants to charge you to recode your meter.
No Eskom staff member or supplier will come to your home to charge you for the recoding.
Please report any such event to the South African Police or Eskom at 08600 37566.
For more information on the worldwide key change rollover, go to www.tidrollover.com.
What will happen if I don’t recode my meter?
If you don’t recode, when you buy electricity after November 2024, your meter will NOT load your purchased tokens.
Every meter in South African HAS to be recoded.
WHY is it necessary to update the codes on all prepaid meters?
If the meter codes are not updated, the prepaid tokens bought will not work on those meters, leaving you without electricity.
The meter coding project is being done for technical reasons to ensure that all Eskom prepaid meters continue working.
It is like upgrading your cellphone – you can use most cellphones for a long time, but sometimes they stop working correctly so you need to upgrade your phone’s software.
How will this prepaid meter work?
The prepaid meters are not being changed, they will work exactly the same as they work now, they are just being recoded.
The only change coming in now is if the meter is not recoded, it will not accept the tokens purchased after 24 November 2024.
All prepaid meters in South Africa that comply to the Standard Transfer Specification (STS) must be recoded.
Will Eskom be educating prepaid electricity vendors?
Eskom will brief its approved vending agents so that their systems are enabled to remind you to do the recoding yourself.
When the recoding starts in your area you will receive two key change tokens with your normal credit token.
You will be guided to punch in the numbers of the key change tokens into your meter in a specific order, to re-code your meter.
You will then be able to load your meter with credit with your credit token, or you may load any other tokens e.g. free basic electricity tokens thereafter.
Will Eskom and its contractors need to access my home?
No, there are no contractors or installers in this rollover.
The recoding is done by customers themselves.
No Eskom person will be visiting you to assist you with this, except for normal reported technical queries.
Do not let anyone into your home posing as an Eskom person wanting to recode your meter.
What about the electricity units left on the meter before the recoding?
Credit in the meter at the time of recoding will be unaffected, even if the recoding is done.
What if I got my recode tokens and I have lost them?
You will be able to get another set of 2 x 20 digit tokens from your vendor, should you have lost the ones issued to you.
Alfred can help you with your KRN rollover
You can use Alfred to log your KRN token information, Alfred will route your request to the KRN team and will give you feedback right away.
No need to call the contact centre for KRN, use Alfred chat bot for quick immediate service instead.
You can simply go to https://alfred.eskom.co.za/chatroom/
Can I call someone?
Customer care number 08600 37 566
Any other helpful reading material?
Try THIS website
Do you have any OTHER prepaid meter upgrade questions?
Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this article or by emailing info@thesouthafrican.com or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1
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