GEORGE NEWS - In terms of Section 96 of the Municipal Systems Act, No 32 of 2000, a municipality:
(a) must collect all money that is due and payable to it, subject to this act and any other applicable legislation; and
(b) for this purpose, must adopt, maintain and implement a credit control and debt collection policy that is consistent with its rates and tariff policies and complies with the provisions of this act.
After the monthly billing, the following process unfolds:
SMS updates to residents
A monthly SMS is issued to all account holders with the updated balance on their account. The SMS is issued about one to two days after the accounts have been issued. This is a courtesy SMS.
A second REMINDER SMS is sent out around the 12th or 13th of the month, as a reminder to account holders that payment is due by the 15th of each month.
All account holders who have paid their accounts and then receive the second SMS should please ignore the alert.
Overdue debt will be recovered through the prepaid meter system
Residents are advised to take note that any overdue debts owing to the municipality will be recovered through the prepaid electricity meter system, as per the Credit Control and Debt Collection Policy.
This means that if you have not paid your account in full, when you purchase prepaid electrical units from a vendor, 50% of your overdue debt will be paid off by your purchase, and the remaining amount will reflect as prepaid electricity units.
How to check what your overdue debt is
If you are not sure what your overdue debt is, please phone in to 044 801 9009/4/17, 044 801 9135 or 044 801 9518. Provide your GRG account number and contact details (email address, telephone number) with all enquiries.
A duplicate statement can also be requested at accounts@george.gov.za. Payment is due by the 15th of the following month.
Why prepaid meters are blocked
Your prepaid meter is blocked only as a last resort. Here is why:
Unpaid municipal account:
If you have outstanding payments on your municipal account and all efforts to contact you have failed.
Legally mandated measure:
Prepaid meter blocking aligns with the Municipal Systems Act's requirements for credit control on overdue accounts.
Block limit
A one-time block for R300 will be instituted on arrear accounts. (You can incur up to 10 transactions to the maximum value of R300. After reaching this R300 limit or completing 10 transactions, the meter will not allow any further purchases).
The one-time block procedure will be implemented after all credit control actions (such as SMS notifications and final demand notices) have been implemented and no response is received from the client.
To unblock your pre-paid meter, follow one of the steps below:
- Pay your municipal account in full
- Make a payment arrangement (before Friday afternoons at 14:00)
Contact:
The Municipality’s Credit Control section can be contacted during office hours at 044 801 9111 or email to creditcontrol@george.gov.za
Note: After-hours assistance for blocked pre-paid electricity meters is no longer be available.
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