On October 1, 2025, the entire nation of South Africa adopted the new electrifying billing system officially, which necessitated the installation of new prepaid meters. This big step taken by the country, which was carried out by Eskom and local governments, includes new meters, the upgrading, and re-registration of all homes and businesses. The project to roll over Token Identifier (TID) that modernizes prepaid systems and prevents illegal token usage, fabricating energy accountability is the reason for the whole country update. The switch to the new billing system will have a very strong impact on all prepaid meter users throughout the country. Those who will not upgrade or register their meters will not be able to recharge and thus will not get electricity in their area, which means power cuts that will last until they comply.
Reasons For New Billing System
For the past thirty years, Eskom has been relying on the old prepaid system’s token generation standard, which is going to be discontinued in November 2025. Along with that, the old tokens will not be accepted for getting electricity credits anymore. To prevent the situation of power cut-off for a large number of customers, the utility company decided upon a TID-compliant billing system that turns and configures all prepaid meters with new encryption keys.
The upgrade guarantees:
- maximum safety with minimal fraud,
- the ability of metering to be done with the highest precision,
- the application of smart meter technology in the near future, and
- no electricity supply cut-off even after the 2025 deadline.
Prepaid Meter Readiness Checklist
Prepaid customers can have their electricity connection up to December 2025 by doing the following tasks:
- Meter Status Confirmation
- It has to be checked whether the meter was changed by the local government or an Eskom technician.
- In case of same meter, immediately call the electricity supplier for a meter update.
2. Tokens Resetting
- You will either receive an SMS alert or the next prepaid slip will show two different tokens (one for resetting and the other for key changing) with each on it.
- Type in the two tokens on the meter in the exact order that it was given to activate the new billing system.
- Old Units Tracking
- Prior to the upgrade, it is very important to load all the tokens that you have purchased earlier – any tokens that are bought before October 2025 and remain unused will be rendered invalid after the reset.
3.Local Electricity Office Verification
- In case your meter still shows the “no token” message after the upgrade, report it at your local Eskom or municipal customer service center without delay.
Power Cutoffs Prevention
With dismantling of the old system, those houses that have not yet updated the prepaid meters will be disconnected automatically, so taking the following steps:
- To prevent such situation it is better to the meter upgrade long before the December 2025 deadline.
- Make it a regular practice to check your balance and confirm the loading of new tokens.
- Do not refuse access to your meter; rather, give the technicians a free access so they can do it.
- The meter should explicitly be in the name of the household or account holder.
Otherwise, you may have to experience a power outage of several days until your system is reactive again.
How to Check Upgrade and Billing Status
Consumers can verify their prepaid meter readiness through the following channels:
- Eskom Online Portal: www.eskom.co.za
- Municipal Websites: Most local councils now provide online meter check services.
- Customer Helpline: Call 08600 37566 for Eskom users or your local municipality’s customer care.
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