On Sunday, 24th November, the process of rolling over to Key Revision Number 2 will begin and customers who have not updated their prepaid meter to support KRN2 will no longer be able to load electricity tokens.
Should your meter not be updated by Sunday, Eskom says that customers will have to pay to replace their prepaid meters at a cost of up to R12 000.
Thankfully the process of updating a prepaid meter is as simple as buying an electricity token from an approved vendor.
When purchasing a prepaid token from a vendor you will receive three 20-digit numbers. These numbers are important as they allow you to update your meter before loading a token.
At your meter, key in the first 20-digit token and enter it. Wait for the number to be accepted. Then enter the second 20-digit token and wait for it to be accepted. The final 20-digit token you enter is actually for your electricity and needs to be keyed in last.
We’ve seen some folks trying to key in all 60-digits at once, this is incorrect and you should key in each 20-digit individually, waiting for it to be accepted before proceeding.
You can check whether your meter is already updated by entering 1844 6744 0738 4377 2416. If your meter displays a 1 or 1.2 it needs updating but a 2 or a 2.2 signal that the meter has been updated.
Eskom also notes that customers can key in the following codes for meters if the number above doesn’t work.
- L&G (E460) – i057 enter
- L&G (PLC2) – i057
- Conlog – #005#
- Voltex – 005 enter
- Nyamezela – Press the red button and hold until dots appear on the display then type 005 and enter.
What if it doesn’t work?
Many South Africans are struggling with this process with responses to Eskom’s social media posts littered with questions from anxious citizens. The utility has directed customers to use its Alfred Chatbot to get assistance. We’ve not had good experiences with this channel and you won’t be speaking to a human should your problem fall outside of the norm.
Eskom says customers can also dial *120*37566# from a mobile phone. Have your meter number ready in order to utilise this service.
The utility has also set up a number of community assistance facilities throughout the country to help locals. Note you will need to bring proof that you have purchased a token in order to be helped.
Why is this happening
This is not just Eskom deciding it wants to update its system, it’s actually a result of an update to a system Eskom uses.
That system is known as Token Identifier or TID and it’s overseen by the STS Association.
“The Token Identifier is a 24-bit field, contained in STS compliant tokens, that identifies the date and time of the token generation. It is used to determine if a token has already been used in a payment meter. The TID represents the number of minutes elapsed since the base date of 1st January 1993. The incrementing of the 24-bit field means that at some point in time, the TID value will roll over to a zero value,” explains STS Association.
As you might imagine, rolling over to zero means the token generation starts all over again except that it can’t as all possible number combinations have been used and this will trigger errors or outright fraud.
To avoid this the base date needs to be changed from 01/01/1993 to 01/01/2014. The association says this will force the TID stack memory to revert to 0 and prevent old tokens from being used.
However, this requires some work from the utilities that use this system and instead of hiring people to do this, customers are asked to update their meters manually to support this change.
Eskom has warned that it will not send officials to your home to update your meter.
“Do not let anyone into your home under the pretext that they want to help you recode your meter. No matter how convincing they may be, if you have not been told by a local media campaign, Eskom, or your local councillor to let someone in, you should not let anyone in. Criminals take advantage of these campaigns to gain access to community members’ homes to commit crimes. Call the Eskom ShareCall number 08600 37566 if you are not sure of the identity of a person requiring access to your home,” warns the utility.
In addition, aside from the cost of the electricity token, the actual updating of your meter is free. If somebody tries to charge you to update the meter call Eskom on 08600 37566 or report the incident to the South African Police Service.
We highly recommend you complete the process of updating sooner rather than later as you will need an electricity supply to update your meter. Be sure to check load reduction schedules where applicable before updating your meter.
