The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), has announced that all prepaid meters will need to be upgraded to continue accepting tokens. In a statement seen by Pindula News, the power utility stated that this process will be carried out in stages, starting from one area and then moving to the next. Read the statement:
Your Prepaid meter will require an upgrade
All prepaid meters will require upgrading in order for them to continue accepting tokens. Therefore all customers will be required to uprade their prepaid meters.
The exercise will be done in phases from one area to another and schedules will be communicated in due course.
To upgrade your meter, you will receive 3 sets of tokens when you purchase electricity. Upgrading is done by entering all the three sets of tokens in the order they are provided.
Make the smart move today.
The announcement about upgrading prepaid meters has received different responses. Some people question why it needs to be done in phases and suggest doing it when customers purchase tokens. Others express concerns about the need to prioritise power generation. Some individuals request that the upgrade process consider physical addresses for token distribution, as some homeowners have not updated their information. Others ask if there are alternative ways to upgrade, as they are often not at home. Some individuals express disappointment with the power utility’s service delivery and its handling of faults.
ZESA prepaid meters were introduced in the early 2000s in Zimbabwe. With these meters, customers can buy tokens and load them onto the meter to pay for electricity in advance. This system was put in place to improve billing accuracy and collect payments more efficiently. Over time, there have been updates and changes to the prepaid meter system, and now there is a requirement for all meters to be upgraded for token acceptance to continue.