Durban - Frustrated Msunduzi Municipality ratepayers say continuing problems with the billing system have left them frustrated as complaints are falling on deaf ears.
While there are long-standing complaints about the billing system, ratepayers have complained that the implementation of two billing cycles in one month is compounding the issues.
Initially customers received bills at the end of the month, but under the new billing cycle, bills are sent out in the middle of the month and at month-end.
Ratepayers who spoke to The Mercury on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said they had seen bills rise sharply since the two billing cycle was introduced.
One customer said she had seen her bill more than double in the past two months and blamed this on the double billing system.
The 51-year-old, who lives alone in a flat, said she had contested the validity of the bill, but this had come to nothing. She said her bill had jumped from an average of R1 500 to R3 500 in the past two months.
“I live by myself and the only items that are usually on will be the refrigerator and the geyser, but even that is switched on as and when I need hot water,” she said.
Another resident also complained about her bill having risen sharply.
She said while she had made arrangements with the municipality to pay her outstanding bill, she had to endure harassment in the form of threats of disconnections for both water and electricity.
She added that she found it strange that she was being billed large amounts for electricity because she was using a gas stove for cooking and only had the refrigerator on throughout the day.
“The problem here is that one gets told that if there are problems, we should approach the municipality’s offices and then get sent from pillar to post. This is just sad,” she said.
Msunduzi Association of Residents Ratepayers and Civics (MARRC) chairperson Anthony Waldhausen said their organisation had done a case study in 2020 (before the two billings days system) on the billing problems and submitted them to the municipality, but there had not been any feedback.
“The billing system is in shambles and MARRC is dealing with many queries from residents. Many are having major problems with their billing in general and also since the imposition of the multiple billing cycle,” he said.
Municipality spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize confirmed that the City had received a high volume of queries during the implementation of the two billing cycles, with customers believing they were double-billed.
She said they responded to all queries and also issued communication explaining that fixed charges were only charged once a month.
“No customers were double-billed, the volume of accounts of the municipality were split twice where the first batch is billed on the 15th and the remaining batch including businesses and government are billed on the last day of the month,” she said.
She added that in a bid to deal with customer complaints, the municipality had appointed a permanent customer care manager.