• Eskom is urging customers to update their prepaid meters ahead of the KRN rollover happening on Sunday.
• If customers don’t update their meter in time they could have to purchase a new meter at a cost of up to R12 000.
• Updating is as easy as purchasing a new top up token and keying in the two 20-digit numbers provided with the voucher.

On Sunday, Eskom prepaid meters that have not been updated to Key Revision Number 2 will stop accepting electricity tokens and a new meter will need to be installed. This will leave those who haven’t updated without electricity until Eskom arrives with a replacement and a bill that could cost up to R12 000.

While some prepaid customers have been granted an extension to update their meter, this only means that prepaid tokens will still include the required Key Change Tokens to upgrade.

Should your meter not be updated, it will no longer accept token codes after 24th November so it’s best to update sooner rather than later.

Thankfully the process of updating is as simple as buying a prepaid token.

When buying a voucher you will be given three 20-digit codes. Simply enter the first code, then the second and finally the recharge code to update the meter to Key Revision Number 2.

To check if your meter is updated enter 1844 6744 0738 4377 2416 on your meter. If the meter displays 1 or 1.2 you still need to recode. If the meter shows 2 or 2.2, your meter is up-to-date and no action is necessary.

Eskom has said that customers can use its Alfred Chatbot to troubleshoot any problems. The utility has also said it has set up community support teams to assist customers this weekend. You can find out where those teams will be on Eskom’s X and Facebook pages.

“Customer with meters still on KRN1 have likely not purchased electricity for more than six months or might 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 six months or more, to buy electricity tokens from authorised vendors by 24 November 2024,” Monde Bala, Eskom group chief executive for Distribution said in a statement.

While any tokens purchased before 24th November will continue to provide electricity beyond that date, after that token runs out, customers won’t be able to load new electricity tokens until their meter is either updated or replaced.

The reason behind this update is twofold. The first reason is that Eskom is simply running out of number combinations to use for tokens, the second reason is to prevent fraud.

As mentioned, City of Johannesburg residents will still have time to update their meters after Sunday but it’s best to be safe and update your meter before then, lest you find yourself with a R12 000 bill to pay for a new meter.

Eskom has been telling customers to update since August 2023 and there really is no excuse not to update.