WATCH: How to update your prepaid electricity meter
Residents who fail to update their prepaid electricity meter before Sunday will have to pay up to R12,000 for a replacement meter.
As of Friday, 22 November, prepaid electricity customers have less than three days to update their meter to avoid losing electricity altogether.
According to an official statement by Eskom, meters still using KRN1 (Key Revision Number 1) will no longer accept electricity tokens after Sunday, 24 November 2024.
Once customers' current electricity credit runs out, they will lose power entirely, the meter will become inoperable, and they won’t be able to load electricity before replacing it.
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This meter replacement could cost up to R12,000.
"Customers with meters still on KRN1 have likely not purchased electricity for more than six months or might be using unauthorised tokens bought from criminal syndicates. To prevent the meter from becoming inoperable, losing power, and incurring replacement costs, it is critical that all customers, including those who have not purchased electricity in the last six months or more, to buy electricity tokens from authorised vendors by 24 November 2024. This will provide them with two sets of 20-digit codes needed to recode and update their meters. We started our public awareness campaigns back in August 2023, and we continue to ask users to come forward so we can offer all the help we have available," said Monde Bala, Eskom's Group Executive for Distribution.
In an attempt to simplify the recording process, Eskom has set up support teams to assist with the recoding over the weekend.
Eskom's chatbot, Alfred, is also available to answer any questions.
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How to Check and Recode Your Meter
To verify if your meter is ready:
• Enter 1844 6744 0738 4377 2416 on your meter keypad.
• If it shows 1 or 1.2, your meter still needs to be recoded.
• If it shows 2 or 2.2, your meter is already updated and requires no further action.
To complete the recoding:
• Enter the first 20 digits of your recode token.
• Enter the second 20 digits of your recode token.
• Finally, enter the 20-digit token from your latest electricity purchase to recharge your meter.
Where to get your key change tokens
When purchasing an electricity token, customers will also receive two 20-digit numbers. These tokens are made available when buying a recharge token and are accessible to all customers once the key change system goes live in their area.
Key change tokens are dispensed automatically from the vendors where you buy your electricity.
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