The City has dismissed malicious reports that its billing system is in a chaotic state and unable to generate accurate customer statements.
“Our billing system’s efficiency is intact. The system remained in perfect working order even during the hard lockdown, when meter readers could not physically access customer properties.
As a result, a mass estimation of water consumption for April 2020 for several residents was conducted,” says Cllr Jolidee Matongo, the MMC for Finance.
Actual meter readings were obtained in May 2020, when the stringent lockdown was eased. This assisted the City to make correct adjustments on the June 2020 municipal accounts that were affected by mass estimation.
Cllr Matongo says the same process was followed between June and August 2020 when new tariffs came into effect. “At no point did the billing system seize to function,” he emphasises.
The MMC assures ratepayers that the efficacy of the municipal billing system is unquestionable.
He says claims that billing has been in a chaotic state during the lockdown are inaccurate. “Our billing system can generate, issue and manage bills as expected.”
The escalation in water and electricity charges, which customers have experienced can be attributed to newly increased tariffs and the increased usage of water and electricity now that residents are mandated to stay home, says Cllr Matongo.
The City approved reduced tariffs for both water and electricity to 6.6% from an initial proposal of 8.6% and 6.23% from 8.10%, respectively.
There are more than 900 000 properties in Johannesburg, including residential, commercial and multi-purpose centres that are collectively valued at R1.4 trillion rands. The City issues over 1.1 million municipal bills every month and there are currently approximately 7 000 queries related to various services.
“This is a query rate of less than 1% of general queries that also include billing related issues, which can be resolved within 30 days. An escalation process is followed where customers are not satisfied with the way their queries have been resolved,” he says.
The City will continue hosting Open Days in 2021 to assist customers to resolve outstanding billing queries. This will be done in line with Covid-19 regulations and adjusted lockdown levels.
Cllr Matongo urges municipal account holders in financial distress to contact the City’s Credit Control Department to make payment arrangements via email on creditcontrol@joburg.org.za.
Ratepayers may also query their bills by logging a call via any of the following regional emails.