Now you know why I only use CitiQ for private meters.
Been through the whole exersize before.
Now you know why I only use CitiQ for private meters.
Been through the whole exersize before.
I am glad I am not a tenant buying electricity via private prepaid meter
The STS Association charge vendors enormous fees for registration and annual licencing fees. Even an equipment manufacturer who wants their product certified has to pay annual subscriptions. Vending infrastructure is expensive and vendors therefore charge between 10% to 15% on their vending fees. That is why users get less when they pay via a prepaid meter.Originally Posted by Isetech
Now I can see why tenants complain about how much electricity costs when using private prepaid meters.
One vender we contacted:
Chain store options = R25 ex vat per month/ per meter.
Vender admin/service fee is 10% of the value purchased plus vat (15%)
Private option: Buy vouchers.
Min of R1oo per voucher card.
If you buy a prepaid meter and decide to change the vender, make sure you understand the additional fees involved.
Electricity sales should be regulated and a standard fee landlord or tenant. Trying to understand admin/service fees and percentages become a small challenge. Throw in the council pricing structure and you need consultant at another fee to clear up all the confusion
An alternative is to monitor and bill in arrears or to load a "wallet" from where credits can be drawn to pay for consumption. The AUS-ioT System is a monitoring system available for single users or multiple complexes. Billing can be done on your own accounting package or via the system either weekly, or monthly. Data is collected every hour so that you always have an up to date reading of the meters (water or electricity).
Coming soon for water users is a motorized valve that can be opened or closed remotely. Linked to a prepaid wallet it will greatly reduce the exorbitant STS fees.
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...
@Blurock. Sounds like a wonderful system, however, at the end of the day, the biggest problem for landlords is getting the money from tenants for services consumed.
That is where prepaid is the easiest solution. You don't pay in advance for services, you don't get them. Problem solved.
Netvender did return my call today, they indicated that they had a glitch with their system. I certainly wouldnt waste time calling Netvender again.
The prepaid meters were installed yesterday already.
We decided to use vender called Recharger, very helpful and returned calls within a couple of hours.
The problem is that what is not measured cannot be managed. Falsely, landlords think that they are absolved of managing utilities when they push everything onto prepaid. The truth is that those prepaid meters gives no feedback to the landlord and when they are bypassed or slowed down, the bill still comes to the landlord.
We have had at least 3 estates/complexes where their water bill was in excess of R1 million. This was because of undetected underground leaks over an extended period.
When the landlord/body corporate gets water via a bulk meter, they have to balance it with what they recover from tenants. This is never done with a prepaid system and the landlord is left with the balance.
The AUS-ioT system collects data every hour, so that you are always up to date with whatever is happening with your utilities in your complex.
By reading all the meters at the same time every month, one can apply statistical analysis and compare one month/period to another to identify exceptions. It is also good for budgeting and funny enough, tenants start to save on consumption once they can read their meters on line.
There are rules in place to collect levies and utilities are part of the monthly billing cycle. At least when you know how much is owning, you can do something about it. How many landlords have been left with an accumulated metro bill after eventually evicting a tenant?
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...
@Blurock
Morning my brother.
I remember you telling us about the Dolphin Beach Estate I think it was, where an internal leak was detected using the Aus-iot system. For an estate that size, perfect. I cannot think of a better system.
However, prepaid does have a place in the market especially for someone renting out 1,2 or maybe 3 units.
I might sound like a CitiQ salesman or rep, but I am not. Have been installing prepaid meters since the inception of privately administered meters.
The secret is to choose wisely when it comes to administrators. Isetech recently asked for some recommendations regarding prepaid meters. I immediately suggested using CitiQ because of my experience with them over the last number of years.
I have tried most of the others, but if everything is taken into account, CitiQ comes out tops.
The landlord gets a monthly statement breaking down the usage of each meter per month. Their system also detects any abnormalities as far as average consumption of each meter is concerned and should such be detected, the landlord is notified thereof. Remember it is in CitiQ's interest that electricity is purchased.
Another service they offer is that should the landlord wish to cover the administrative charges instead of passing it on to the tenant, then that is possible. Quite a large percentage of my clients make use of this feature.
Until such time that the water meters are either fitted with a built in pressure regulating valve or until the electronic section is updated in order to last longer than a year before starting to leak, we have stopped installing them. Too many comebacks just after the guarantee expires. We still install the odd one if supplied by the client.
Enjoy your weekend.
It all boils down to application,.
A domestic house/flat/duplex/simplex up for rent - council prepaid meter.
A domestic granny flat outbuilding being sub let - private prepaid meter.
An estate property - complicated, best you review the setup and get advise.
A commercial/industrial type complex - best you get advise. We have sub meters monitoring the meter which is used to bill each tenant via the property management group which they bulk buy for the council. I also have many customers who rent properties which have the entire roof full of solar panels, owned by the landlord, who has an agreement with the council.
Etc, etc.
Then you have the tariffs..... that's just another thread on its own, because there are many different tariffs charged at different rates depending on the location.
My advice get someone who knows what they are doing to advise you.
Just a tip for anyone renting or living in a complex of sorts, make sure you monitor your metering carefully, I have a few customer who have been burnt really bad, we not taking a couple hundred rand, we talking hundreds of thousands over a couple of years.
Just imagine finding out today that your electricity account which seems pretty low considering you are running machines and heating elements is actually not your meter, but the factory 3 doors down. Its only a storage faculty with a couple lights and computers. Oooops, thats gonna hurt, considering its 4 years later and the shortfall of your bill is a couple hundred thousand. Thats enough to put you out of business
Most prepaid water meters are crap and is very expensive. I sell prepaid water meters only if customers insist, because it is so expensive and troublesome. I would rather go for a system that is monitored daily, remotely and automated. You don't do water balancing with prepaid meters, so huge surprizes on your month-end bill is not unusual.
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...
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