Residents of Soweto rushing to upgrade their prepaid electricity meters have been warned about scammers targeting people in queues outside Eskom service centres.
Story Summary:
- Eskom has extended its prepaid meter upgrade deadline amid long queues in Soweto, warning of scammers selling fake electricity tokens.
- Criminal syndicates are also impersonating Eskom officials, charging customers fees for fake meter registrations.
- Customers must use legal vendors to buy tokens and ensure their meters are upgraded to KRN2 to remain operational.
Criminal syndicates exploit meter upgrade deadline
This comes as the power utility works to reconfigure over a million meters, particularly focusing on customers who have not bought electricity tokens in months, also known as “zero buyers.”
The scenes outside Eskom offices, particularly in Zola, Soweto, have been chaotic, with long queues forming early in the morning.
Criminal groups have taken advantage of the situation, reportedly selling fraudulent electricity tokens and impersonating Eskom officials.
According to Eskom, some scammers offer to register customers’ meters for a fee, exploiting those desperate to meet the upgrade deadline.
Security has been heightened around service centres to prevent further exploitation.
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha urged customers to avoid unofficial vendors and only purchase tokens from authorised outlets.
“We are prioritising safety and service quality, and we encourage the public to report any suspicious activity around our service centres,” said Mantshantsha.
Meter upgrade process and extended deadline
The meter upgrade is a critical nationwide project aimed at reconfiguring prepaid meters to the KRN2 coding system, ensuring that all meters remain operational.
The original deadline passed on Sunday, but Eskom extended it to allow zero buyers to complete the process without penalties.
Residents must buy electricity tokens from legal vendors and input two 20-digit codes into their meters to complete the upgrade.
Failure to upgrade will render meters inoperable, as they will not accept new tokens.
While most customers successfully re-coded their meters by June 2024, a significant number remain unregistered.
