Power utlity Eskom says it is ready to kick off its prepaid meter recode initiative to all its customers around the country.

This follows a successful rollout of a pilot project in Gauteng where Eskom was able to recode 5,800 meters.

The current TID code will expire on 24 November 2024, and after this date, all STS-compliant meters will stop accepting credit tokens.

The recoding of prepaid meters is not only an Eskom initiative but it will be rolled out to all Eskom and municipal customers.

“This is a customer Do It Yourself (DIY) process, but Eskom will provide easy step-by-step procedure that will enable a simple recode process,” it said.

Eskom has communicated with its approved vending agents, to ensure that their systems are enabled for the do-it-yourself recoding.

When the recoding starts in a particular area, customers in that area will get two key change tokens with their normal credit token purchases.

Customers will know their recode was done correctly when their purchased credit tokens load successfully.

Eskom said that there is no cost to the customer for recoding their meter.

“Should anyone request payment for this service, customers are advised to immediately report it to SAPS or Eskom on share call 08600 37566,” it said.

“The rollout will be phased per residential area, customers are therefore requested to look out for information in their local community or media to know when the recoding will be active in their area and for any updates on the recoding programme,” the utility said.

Eskom said that it is important for customers to take note that should they not recode their meter, the meter will become inactive after November 2024.

Read: Prepaid electricity crisis could spell doom for municipalities – but little has been done