The Inkatha Freedom Party has called on residents who are in arrears with their utility accounts to come forward and apply for the 80/20 prepaid electricity debt recovery programme.
IFP Councillors Jane Naidoo and Jonathan Annipen briefed the area leaders on the programme recently, where they made the call. Cllr Annipen said the programme is designed to assist customers who are in financial difficulty and cannot afford to pay the accumulated debt owed to the eThekwini Municipality.
“The customer will apply for a prepaid electricity meter at the Electricity Customers Office. The consolidated debt which includes services and rates charges will be added to the prepaid meter box. Each time the customer purchases power 50% of the purchase will be allocated to the outstanding debt while the other 50% will be allocated to the customer’s usage,” said Cllr Annipen.
He said there will be no interest charges from the time the application is approved. “This is also a better method because customers can pay off their debt according to their budgets as opposed to signing a credit agreement with the municipality which demands that the debt must be paid within a prescribed period. The programme will benefit both the city and the customer as the municipality would be recovering debt and the customer would not have their essential services disconnected,” added Cllr Annipen.
Cllr Naidoo said like any responsible programme, this one too comes with conditions. She said: “The applicant must be the account holder or have authority from the account holder in order to make this application. If the account holder is deceased then a letter of authority or a letter of executorship is required. Once the application is made the electricity department will then hand the application to their planning division. They will then formulate the cost of the installation including cabling among other things.”
Cllr Naidoo said if the customers are unable to pay for the installation and application fee, they can request that the cost be added to the existing debt after planning have completed their processes. She added: “The applicant will then be called back to customer services to sign an acknowledgement of debt and thereafter the installation process will begin. It is important that customers understand this process so as to not experience unnecessary delays. Our IFP representatives in all our areas will be able to assist you with any queries and our councillor offices will also have change from credit to the prepaid system over application forms.”
For further queries on the programme contact Cllr Jonathan Annipen on 031 350 3285.
