February 13, 20251 yr Hi just wanted to find out I'm a newly tenant and I use conlog prepaid meter for lights but before loading I was told I must pay R650 arrears is this possible as I'm confused how this works
February 14, 20251 yr 10 hours ago, Jonathan16 said: Hi just wanted to find out I'm a newly tenant and I use conlog prepaid meter for lights but before loading I was told I must pay R650 arrears is this possible as I'm confused how this works Sounds odd. How can there be arrears on a pre-paid meter? * Who is asking for this payment? Not all prepaid meters are operated by municipalities or Eskom? * OK. Maybe in Johannesburg where there has been a fixed monthly fee on City Power prepaid meters since July last year.
February 14, 20251 yr 11 hours ago, Jonathan16 said: Hi just wanted to find out I'm a newly tenant and I use conlog prepaid meter for lights but before loading I was told I must pay R650 arrears is this possible as I'm confused how this works If this is the city's meter, maybe the previous tenant has enough credit on the meter not to have to buy energy for the last 2 months or so and thus the monthly fees were not paid either, this is now, problematic, since this should not be the new tenants problem... this is something the city would have to sort out, by trying to extract funds from the previous tenant (unlikely to happen) or writing off the amount, due to this being a screwup which was not thought out very well when they decided to charge monthly fees from prepaid, the only way I can see this working properly if they cut the supply if the monthlies haven't been paid, even though you may have credit on the meter... A nasty scenario otherwise for example could be a tenant that works out he needs, let's say 200kWh per month, he knows/decides he will be there for 2 years, he buys 24 X 200 = 4800kWh worth of energy + paying the 1st months monthlies and by the time he moves out and has exhausted his kWhs bought the meter is now 23 months in arrears and who should be and will be liable for this, it should be the tenant or the owner (by way of security deposit) but not the new tenant... surely.
February 14, 20251 yr Take it up with your landlord. The arrears is either the monthly fee or arrears on the municipality account. When buying prepaid credit, the arrears needs to be paid first.
February 14, 20251 yr How many units are loaded on the meter currently when you moved in maybe there are already R650 loaded on the meter, I can't see how you are liable for arrears as you just moved in.
February 14, 20251 yr 10 minutes ago, JacoG said: How many units are loaded on the meter currently when you moved in maybe there are already R650 loaded on the meter, I can't see how you are liable for arrears as you just moved in. This makes sense. There is a credit on the meter, and the previous tenant is trying to recover that. @Jonathan16 if you are going to get about R650's worth of electricity under this scenario, then that's the units on the meter that you won't have to buy and load. So not so bad. Edited February 14, 20251 yr by Bobster.
February 14, 20251 yr 1 hour ago, Kalahari Meerkat said: If this is the city's meter, maybe the previous tenant has enough credit on the meter not to have to buy energy for the last 2 months or so and thus the monthly fees were not paid either, this is now, problematic, since this should not be the new tenants problem... this is something the city would have to sort out, by trying to extract funds from the previous tenant (unlikely to happen) or writing off the amount, due to this being a screwup which was not thought out very well when they decided to charge monthly fees from prepaid, the only way I can see this working properly if they cut the supply if the monthlies haven't been paid, even though you may have credit on the meter... The owner of the property would be responsible for the service charges. I think the other explanation is more likely - that a previous tenant left a credit on the meter. I have seen this happen when houses in my street get sold. There's a credit on the meter - if it's a couple of units then nobody worries, but if it's a bit more then seller and buyer negotiate a price for the units that the buyer will not have to load.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.