State-owned power utility Eskom is once again urging all prepaid electricity customers to update their meters immediately to avoid an unexpected loss of electricity after the deadline of November 24.

It is critical that all customers, including those who have not bought electricity in the past six months or more, buy electricity tokens from authorised vendors by November 24 to prevent the meter from becoming inoperable, losing power and incurring replacement costs, says Eskom Distribution group executive Monde Bala.

Buying electricity tokens will provide customers with two sets of 20-digit codes needed to recode and update their meters, he points out.

Customers with meters still using Key Revision Number 1 (KRN1) have likely not bought electricity for more than six months.

"Meters still using KRN1 will no longer accept electricity tokens after November 24. This means that once your current credit is depleted, you will lose power and the meter will become inoperable, necessitating a meter replacement that could cost up to R12 000, which the customer will have to pay," Bala emphasises.

Eskom is prepared to issue tokens to all customers who have not recoded their meters to ensure continuous and secure electricity purchases after November 24. Customers who recode by this deadline will be able to buy tokens seamlessly from all official vendors and maintain uninterrupted supply.

To verify if a meter is ready, enter '1844 6744 0738 4377 2416' on the meter keypad. If it shows 1 or 1.2, the meter needs to be recoded, but, if it shows 2 or 2.2, the meter is updated and requires no further action.

To recode a meter, enter the first 20 digits of the recode token, then enter the second 20 digits of the recode token. Finally, enter the 20-digit token from the latest electricity purchase to recharge the meter.

Eskom has set up community support teams that also work on weekends to assist and make the recoding process accessible for all customers.

"Eskom thanks those who have already completed the recoding and encourages others to act now to secure their supply," he says.