council bylaws

[murdock]

so today i had one of those challenging days again...i am told that i am to be charged R1200 for tampering with electricity department meters x 6 =R7200...eeiiish...so i head down to the local electricity department and request the documents required to open the bottom of the council meter so that i can replace the consumers cabling between the meter and main DB...but i am told there is no such document...so i enquire about the legal way to do it...there is no legal way to do it...acording to customers services you simply cut off the paper or seal replace the cable then advise them so that they can reseal it at some stage...so i ask then how can i be prosecuted for doing exactly that...i am told they cant...so long as i dont tamper with the top part of the meter it is no regarded as tampering...the next step was to get this in writting..yeah right nobody can give it to me in writting.

now i am confused...because firstly they would need to prove that i actually broke the seal to start with...how do they know the seal wasnt broken already before i started working on the installation...who do i believe...the customer services people or the planning department...they dont seem to be on the same page.

now for the second part of my problem...

i go to customer services and fill out all the documentation to apply to move the meter...i request some advice...am told that i can just move the meter 500 mm over (you know to do things right)...but here is the catch i find that there is no slack on the cable so now the cable is too short...no problem i fill out all the correct documentation required and hand it in...i get a call from the planning person who tells my customer that what i have done is illegal... so he contacts me...this is when i am told that i am to be procecuted for tampering with the meters.

my first question is then how was the installation passed by the council when it was installed...how come now suddenly because i have moved it...its now illegal...nothing has changed other than the location...it has been moved 500 mm to the left...i have to now pay for the all the cables to be moved to the new location and i have to supply a meter kiosk...i am set to loose around R20 000 for the relocation and an additional R7200 for tampering with the meters of a so called illegal installation...which has been functioning for years...i am starting to wonder about the ethics of the council.

if i knew what i know now i would have spiked the cable done the joint myself...extended the cable and reconnected...then reported that there was no electricity they would have come out put the new fuses in and nobody would have been the wiser...total cost around R1000 including my labour.

it doesnt pay to be honest.

from now on i first exhaust all my opition then only contact the council and another thing if you deal with the council make sure you have written proof.