Eskom’s Key Revision Number rollover project reaches a 3 million milestone

8 March 2024

As previously communicated, Eskom and all electricity distributors in South Africa have the responsibility to recode prepaid electricity meters. The majority of the country’s prepaid meter Token Identifier (TID) codes are set to expire on November 24, 2024. After this date, all Standard Transfer Specification (STS) compliant meters will no longer accept credit tokens. Eskom has achieved a significant milestone in its Key Revision Number (KRN) rollover project, having successfully recoded 3 million prepaid meters as of 01 March 2024.

“Reaching this milestone of recoding 3 million Key Change Tokens gives impetus to our commitment to ensure that all our 6.8 million prepaid electricity meters are recoded before the deadline of 24 November 2024. We are grateful to our customers for embracing the Do It Yourself (DIY) process. Our teams are available to promptly assist those customers who are experiencing challenges and have logged queries with reference numbers,” said Eskom’s Group Executive for Distribution, Monde Bala.

Eskom continues to centrally monitor the progress of the rollover daily through a dashboard and provides support through various customer support mechanisms in place. Easy step-by-step guides are available on the various Eskom’s communication channels, including social media platforms, the Alfred Chatbot for questions and answers, and the Eskom website to enable a seamless process. 

Eskom wishes to remind customers that the recoding of meters is done at no cost to the customers and cautions against scammers who may attempt to take advantage of the re-coding process and request for any form of payment for this service.

Customers are also reminded to enter all previously purchased credit tokens into their meter before entering their new meter recoding tokens. This is important because old credit tokens will not work after the meter is recoded.

If customers have purchased multiple credit tokens as part of the meter recoding or afterwards, they must enter these tokens in the same date or time order they were purchased. Otherwise, older tokens may no longer work in the meter if newer tokens are inserted first.

The process of buying electricity remains unchanged. Customers can still purchase electricity from major banks, online platforms, fuel stations, prepaid electricity vending agents, and retailers across the country, as they currently do.

Customers are urged to recode their meters as all Standard Transfer Specification (STS) compliant meters will stop accepting credit tokens after 24 November 2024.

Here’s how to recode your meter:

Get your two recode tokens from your prepaid electricity vendor when Eskom prompts you that your area is being rolled over.

Key in the first 20 digits of your recode token, and wait for it to be accepted.

Key in the second 20 digits of your recode token, and wait for it to be accepted.

Very important! Key in the 20 digits of your purchased token to recharge your meter.

Issued by Eskom Media Desk, 8 March 2024