Our service cancellation policy
This policy outlines how Citiq Meter Solutions (Pty) Ltd (referred to as “Citiq Prepaid”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this policy) processes submetering service cancellations from its customers (also referred to as “you” or “your” in this policy): prepaid meters’ owners (property owners or body corporates, called “owners” in this policy) and their agents (such as managing agents, called “agents” in this policy).
How to cancel submetering services from Citiq Prepaid
Owners or their agents use Citiq Prepaid’s submetering services to collect prepaid electricity and water payments from tenants. To sign up to our submetering services, prepaid electricity or water meters (called “prepaid meters” in this policy) have to be installed and registered with us. See our website’s Installation Policy and Registration Policy for more details on the installation and registration processes.
Customers can cancel our submetering services by switching a prepaid meter to a different submetering service provider. To do this, you must request a “key change out” from us to deregister the prepaid meter from our system. Once deregistered, you can register the prepaid meter with another submetering service provider. The How to request a key change out section lists the deregistration steps in more detail.ng business day.
The notice period for key change-out requests
You can request a key change out from us at any time, unless our contract mentions otherwise. If our contract includes a notice period, you must request the key change out from us in writing before the end of the notice period.
Key change-out fees
We charge a key change-out fee, which includes VAT, for every key change-out request. For more details on our fees, see the pricing policy on our website.
How to request a key change-out
Step 1: Call or email our call centre and request a key change out.
| Citiq Prepaid’s contact details | |
| Telephone | +27 87 55 111 55 |
| +27 87 55 111 17 (for sending you the key change form only) | |
| help@citiqprepaid.co.za | |
Once you have passed the security questions, we will send you a key change form to complete. Once you’ve sent the completed form back to us, we will process your request and send you an invoice for the key change-out request.
Step 2: You must pay the invoice and send us the proof of payment via email or WhatsApp, allowing us to allocate the payment to the owner’s account on our system.
Step 3: Once we have confirmed that the payment is in our bank account, we will generate a key change token for the prepaid meter and send it to you via email or WhatsApp. It can take 1–2 working days (sometimes longer) for payments to reflect in our bank account, depending on your bank.
Step 4: Enter the 20 digits of the key change token into the prepaid meter to complete the key change-out process.
Note: To register the prepaid meter with another submetering service provider, you would need to request a key change token from them, and enter that token’s 20-digit code into the prepaid meter on the same day.
Switching to a different submetering service provider
You must complete the entire switching process (deregistering the prepaid meter with one submetering service provider and registering it with another) on the same day to ensure the prepaid meter works efficiently. The prepaid meter can take up to two days to register as “switched” with prepaid token vendors. We recommend there are enough credits on the prepaid meter to last the tenant for 2–3 days before you start the switching process.
Switching back to a municipal meter instead of another submetering service provider
If you choose to stop using a prepaid electricity or water meter and switch a household back to the property’s municipal meters, Citiq Prepaid will refund any unused credits on the prepaid meter to the owner’s Citiq Prepaid account. The owners or their agent will need to arrange any applicable refunds directly with their tenants. See the Returns and refunds policy on our website for more details on refunds.
What happens if a property owner passes away
If a property owner passes away, the family may choose to continue using Citiq Prepaid’s submetering services. In such cases, we will need to register the prepaid meter to the new property owner, which we will do free of charge. See the FAQ page on our website for the process of requesting a change of ownership.
Should the family decide to switch to a different submetering service provider, the process described in the How to request a key change out section will apply.
What happens once the key change-out process is complete
Once you have entered the key change token from us into the prepaid meter (thereby deregistering the prepaid meter with us and cancelling our submetering services):
- The prepaid meter’s warranty will no longer be valid with Citiq Prepaid. That means we will not replace the prepaid meter, or any part of it, if it breaks.
- Tenants can still use any remaining electricity or water credits on the prepaid meter.
- You may still request a billing statement from us.
- The owner’s Online Owner Portal profile and account details will remain on our system (see the Protecting personal information section for the process to delete an Online Owner Portal profile or account with us). Deleting a Citiq Prepaid Owner app on your phone does not delete the owner’s profile or account on our system.
Our customers buy prepaid electricity or water meters before registering them with us. Unless our contract states otherwise, you must not return prepaid meters when you cancel our submetering services. Please look at our website’s Returns and Refunds policy for more details on returns.
Liability
Citiq Prepaid will aim to process any changes promptly and with minimal disruption. However, we are not responsible for any losses caused by delays, and you agree not to hold us liable for them.
Protecting personal information
Citiq Prepaid follows the information processing guidelines of the Protection of Personal Information Act (No. 4 of 2013).
We do not share personal information with unauthorised parties during the key change out process.
You can request us to delete your account when you request a key change out from us or choose to stop using the prepaid meter. We may need to keep some records after you ask us to delete your account if the law requires us to do so.
You can also reach out to our call centre at any time to have us delete your Online Owner Portal profile. Once we delete your profile, you will no longer be able to see your historical statements. See the FAQ page on our website for the process on having your Online Owner Portal profile deleted.
Dispute resolution process
When you sign up for or use our submetering services, you agree to follow these steps to resolve a dispute with us (you may only move to the next step if the dispute is not resolved):
Step 1: Mediation. Contact us directly to try to resolve the dispute.
|
Citiq Prepaid’s contact details |
|
|
Telephone |
+27 87 55 111 55 |
|
|
+27 87 55 111 17 |
|
|
|
|
Website |
|
Step 2: Arbitration. File a dispute with the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA).
|
AFSA’s contact details |
|
|
Website |
|
Step 3: Lodge a complaint with our industry’s governing body, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).
|
NERSA’s contact details |
|
|
|
|
|
Website |
|
Step 4: Legal action.
Should you need to deliver any legal notices to us, you must deliver them to our Johannesburg office at the following address (our “domicilium citandi et executandi”):
72 Morkels Close, Capital Hill, Midrand, Gauteng, 1685, South Africa.
Governing law and jurisdiction
This policy is governed by the laws of South Africa and falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Republic of South Africa (Western Cape Division, Cape Town).