Johannesburg - Following a host of complaints from residents with billing queries, especially relating to the lockdown period where many residents feel they have been exorbitantly billed, the City of Joburg is set to start a series of open days to resolve problems.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, and the limitations on staff attending to work, the city’s capacity to deal with queries was reduced. The open days will now afford customers an opportunity to have their queries addressed, said city spokesperson Kgamanyane Stan Maphologela.
The first open day will be hosted on Saturday at the Randburg customer service centre, corner Bram Fischer Drive and Jan Smuts Avenue in Region B.
It will be followed by another open day on September 26 at the Eldorado Park customer service centre, 4064 Link Crescent, Extension 5 in Region G, and on October 3 at the Braamfontein Thuso House, 61 Jorissen Street in
Region F. The scheduled times will be from 8am to 2pm.
All open days will be followed by week-long, extended operational hours at these venues from 7.30am to 5pm.
Ratepayers with queries are required to book an appointment on 011 326 4857 or send an email to [email protected] with their contact details including name and address, account number, nature of the query, and open day that they wish to attend two days prior to the date of each event. This is to ensure lockdown regulations are kept.
Residents who are not able to attend can still visit the customer centres where there will be extended operational hours in support of the open days. Ratepayers will still need to book an appointment using the telephone number and email address.
Ratepayers with additional information such as meter readings and photos of the meter are requested to bring them along.
Customer education on the use of water and electricity, as well as the application of the 2020/21 recent tariff increase will be explained at these days.
There will be a presence of multi-disciplinary customer relationship agents – from the billing unit, Johannesburg Water, City Power, rates and taxes, and meter readers on site that will be focused on resolving a variety of long-outstanding billing queries on the spot.
The Star