City Power has assumed control of electricity billing, in a bid to “resolve the long-standing billing challenges” experienced with the City of Johannesburg (COJ).
The handover, effective from the start of this month, gives the utility full control of the billing process.
“This transition is not merely administrative; it marks a milestone in our ongoing mission to enhance customer service, resolve long-standing billing challenges, and ensure every household and business is accurately billed for the electricity they use,” City Power said in a statement this week.
Previously, billing was handled by the COJ. With the function brought in-house, City Power says it can respond faster, reduce errors caused by estimates and offer more transparency.
The city’s billing woes date back to 2009, when it started implementing a SAP platform. This R580 million (at the time) plan − Project Phakama − aimed to move the city’s various billing platforms onto SAP to provide a single view of its 1.3 million account-holders. The project faced widespread criticism following its launch, with thousands of residents finding issues with their accounts.
City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava says the utility wants to rebuild trust “one accurate bill at a time”. She adds that “this handover marks a turning point in how we serve our customers. By taking full ownership of the billing function, we are not only improving accountability, but also placing the power of transparency and service directly into the hands of our customers.”
Christo Nicholls, CEO of Utility Consulting Solutions, tells ITWeb: “We’ve learned one key truth from working with municipalities across South Africa: you can’t build a sustainable electricity distribution system without trust. And that trust starts with what people see on their monthly electricity bill.”
Democratic Alliance councillor Tim Truluck says on a ward group that the move aims to “create a more accountable, customer-focused service” and “address long-standing billing frustrations”.
Mashava adds that City Power’s individual house audits will aid it in “eliminating inaccuracies and addressing issues head-on. Our goal is to ensure that every customer is correctly billed on verified [data].”
City Power says a city-wide audit of meters is underway across all service delivery centres, including Reuven, Roodepoort, Hursthill, Randburg, Midrand and Alexandra. Through this process, it aims to verify the status of every meter and ensure these are correctly linked to customers’ accounts.
“These audits are critical for identifying customers who may have previously been unaccounted for, resolving inherited inaccuracies and determining where further support may be needed,” the utility says.
In the city’s 2023/24 annual report, the Auditor-General (AG) of South Africa flagged electricity losses of R4.9 billion, up 17.6%, due to power disappearing in the “transportation of electricity from the point of supply to point of distribution through dissipation as useless heat”. It also pointed to theft, meter tampering, illegal recalibrations of meters, faulty equipment and billing errors.
Nicholls says the utility’s “plans for stand-by-stand meter audits and a dedicated billing support unit show they’re serious about cleaning up legacy issues and rebuilding confidence”. He recommends that City Power uses future-proof digital meters.
A total of 56 staff members from the COJ’s finance team have joined City Power and are working with existing revenue specialists. A dedicated unit has been created to resolve billing queries quicker.
Invoices will still be issued through the COJ.
In the 2023/24 annual report, the AG-SA also found “material misstatements” in the city’s financial statements, R2 billion in irregular expenditure and R2.8 billion in unauthorised spending.
As of the time of writing, the COJ had not responded to ITWeb’s request for comment on the utility’s claim that its billing system was broken.
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