The eThekwini Municipality Energy Management Directorate (EMD) is proposing that the debt relief mechanism be suspended due to the lack of system integration.
The proposal to suspend the 80/20 and 50/50 debt relief mechanisms was raised at a recent municipal Trading Services Committee meeting. Both programs were reintroduced as debt recovery mechanisms in May 2022 to assist customers in repaying outstanding municipal electricity debt through a proportional deduction method.
The EMD stated in its report to the committee that there was a lack of integration between the vending system and the billing system, resulting in a fragmented and inefficient approach to debt collection. Another reason for the suspension…