Ekurhuleni has introduced a new way of doing things when it comes to the billing of water and electricity services: residents can now submit meter readings directly by SMS or arrange for after hours readings.

“There is no reason Ekurhuleni residents should receive interim billing for water and electricity consumption due to problems such as obstructed meters and locked gates.

“This is part of tightening our processes to ensure the accurate reading of meters and therefore address the issue of interim readings,” said Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini.

This will complement the current door-to-door method of meter readings. Residents have an option of sending readings either by calling a dedicated call centre, SMSing, emailing or making arrangements for their meters to be read after hours.

However, Dlamini said that the alternative methods do not mean that meter readers will no longer visit customers. This was a complementary service to ensure that no meter goes unread.

To make arrangements for meters to be read after hours, customers can contact the call centre on 086 106 6852. This number is strictly for this purpose and not for any other communication with the municipality.

To SMS readings, customers can follow the following process:

SMS: ‘REGISTER’ followed by your municipality account number to 40882 (example: ‘REGISTER 123456789).

You only need to register once and you will be sent a notification SMS after registration. After registering, you can submit your meter readings by sending the following SMS to 40882:

· To submit water meter readings, SMS ‘SET WATER’ followed by your meter reading. Example: ‘SET WATER 5467.
· To submit your electricity meter readings SMS ‘SET ELEC’ followed by your meter reading. Example: ‘SET ELEC 8541.

Residents are urged to submit water and electricity readings in two separate SMS messages. The SMSes will be charged at R3 each and free SMSes do not apply.

Readings can also be sent through via the website of Motla. Visit the link ‘Ekurhuleni Customer’ and choose ‘Online Meter Reading Submissions’. A simple registration process must then be followed.

A specific user name and password will be sent to the customer after registration via e-mail. This will ensure that only the user has access to his/her account details.

– BuaNews