PREPAID METERS GENERAL QUESTIONS
Everything you need to know about Prepaid Meters…
A token is an STS (Standard Transfer Specification) compliant 20 digit number issued upon purchase that will release the specified amount of electricity (in kwh) on your STS Prepaid Meter.
It is perfectly legal to install a prepaid water meter on your property provided that it does not interfere with the main supply. Once the credit value on the meter is depleted, the meters shut off valve will close and prevent any further water from entering the premises.
It is recommended that you consult with a certified electrician to inspect your electrical infrastructure and advise you on what options are available to you.
No. The meter draws power from the distribution board and the main supply. If there is a power outage the solar panel is unable to feed power back into the distribution board to power the meter.
In terms of Section 12 of the Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999, the property owner may not cause the non-supply or interrupt supply of services without a court order or if it is an emergency.
When selecting a meter you need only consider if it meets the specific requirements of your space, we have taken care of ensuring it’s a top quality device.
Electricity:
There are essentially two categories:
Compact unit where the meter and the keypad are contained in a single casing (cost effective)
Split unit where the meter and the keypad are separate. (This reduces the potential for meter tampering.)
Your installer will be able to guide you through the options and why they might be suitable for your building.
Water:
Our water meters undergo the same stringent selection process as the electricity devices and we have a split meter for properties requiring hot and cold water.
No. We do not require our customers to sign a contract. Meters are purchased outright and remain the property of the customer.
Yes. As mentioned above, your primary supply from Eskom / municipality remains in place hence you are still required to pay the account.
Our meters are classified as sub-meters and in no way interfere with the supply from the municipality or Eskom. They are installed after the main supply so no additional permission or approval is required.
The sub-meters are STS compliant meters (approved standard with Eskom). Our meters are merely used to monitor and collect on a tenant’s purchases and usage so that the property owner may recover their money in order to pay their utility accounts. The property owner is still liable to pay the municipal/Eskom account.
PREPAID METERS INSTALLATION QUESTIONS
Yes. All our installations are guaranteed by our company. All our installations are also passed through quality assurance and documentation is saved against customer account for any future technical reference.
We have teams of installers in the Free State, Easter Cape, Northern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng. Contact us to find out if we have installers in your location and ask for an installation quote.
PREPAID METERS TECHNICAL SUPPORT QUESTIONS
Yes you can call-out a technician to your site. However, a call-out fee will be charged unless your meter is covered by our Service and Maintenance Plan.
Free State:
Email – info@ums-sa.co.za
Phone – (010) 157 2332 / (051) 880 0022
Northern Cape:
Email – flippie@ums-sa.co.za
Contact – (044) 630 0811
All our meters are supplied with a 12 month manufacturers warranty. Once the meters are out of warranty, we suggest you consider taking out our service and maintenance plan which will cover the meters repair, replacement and call out fees for as long as the meter is actively registered on our system.
Yes, our technical support department is available to assist with any technical difficulties.
PREPAID METERS USER MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS
Yes. Consumers are encouraged to login to their meter account
Yes. Customers can login to our Utility Management System where they can view detailed tariff and transaction history records for all their metering accounts.
Consumers are also able to do the same, but consumers may only view their specific metering account and the metering accounts of other consumers on the system.
PREPAID METERS MAINTENANCE QUESTIONS
If the meter is under the Maintenance plan we will fix the meter or replace it. The only condition is that you purchased the meter that you want to be fixed from us.
No. This is not an extended warranty.
A warranty enables you to get a new item or the item repaired if you bring it to the store you purchased from, while the extended warranty is extending the time in which the item can be replaced or fixed.
PREPAID METERS SITE INSPECTION QUESTIONS
Audits are generally performed when we first take over a site or when a customer suspects that the integrity of the metering solution has been compromised. The objective of an audit is therefore to identify any situation where the customer may be losing on revenues due to bridging/by-passing of meters, incorrect tariffs, etc.
Site inspection and audit services are needed when a Customer is either unsure as to what reticulation is available on site or when there is a suspicion that the integrity of the metering system has been compromised.
PREPAID METERS VENDOR QUESTIONS
This will depend on the management method you select on registration. For the outsource-managed method, users can either purchase tokens through the various retail channels and outlets such as, Engen, BP, Spar, Checkers, Pick ’n Pay, Dischem, Shell, etc. In addition, users can generate tokens via EFT, cellphone banking, debit card or credit card, through our online vending system. On the self-managed method, the user would pay the property owner or representative who would then in turn generate these tokens themselves either via SMS, USSD or our online management system.
If your user is purchasing their tokens via the retail channels, these points of sale will provide your user with their voucher. If your user is using the banking channels, once the funds have cleared they can get their token via SMS. Alternatively, if you are on the self-managed method of vending you can SMS, email or print token numbers for your users.
