Prepaid electricity online in City of Ekurhuleni

In Ekurhuleni, electricity tariffs are set according to guidelines from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) and reviewed annually. Residents have tariff options based on their usage:

·        Tariff A (Inclined Block Tariff): Divided into categories for low consumption and

subsidised indigent customers who can receive 50 kWh of Free Basic Electricity (FBE)

per month and don’t pay a basic monthly charge.

·        Tariff B: Designed for medium to high consumption households and includes a basic

monthly charge.

These basic monthly charges help the municipality recover costs for maintaining the electricity network, meter readings, billing and infrastructure upkeep.

What Is a Monthly vs Daily Tariff?

Understanding the difference between monthly and daily electricity tariffs helps you budget and manage your electricity use more effectively.

Monthly Tariff

A monthly tariff (or fixed service charge) is an amount charged once per month — even if you do not buy any electricity tokens that month.

Why? - Municipalities use this charge to recover the fixed costs of providing electricity services — like billing, meter reading, infrastructure maintenance, and system admin. This means you contribute to keeping the system running even on months you use less electricity.

Daily Tariff

A daily tariff spread means the monthly service charge is broken into a daily rate — so when you buy prepaid tokens, part of what you pay goes toward covering the daily cost until the monthly service is covered.

For example, if a municipality charges an R90 monthly service fee, the system might deduct R3 a day from your electricity purchase until that monthly service charge is covered. Any remaining amount then buys actual electricity units.

Residential Prepaid Tariff (Indicative 2025/26)

Tariff Block	Usage Range (kWh)	Rate (Approx R per kWh)
Block 1	0 – 50	~R2.45
Block 2	51 – 350	~R3.10
Block 3	351 – 600	~R3.60
Block 4	>600	~R4.10

Electricity for customers supplied by the City of Ekurhuleni can be purchased directly through the Powertime platform via the following approved channels:

• Online through the Powertime website

• Through the Powertime mobile application (Android and iOS)

• By using you Powertime Wallet or use the SMS vending channel

Here are the payment methods available on Powertime:

·        Debit/Credit cards

·        Instant EFT

·        Powertime Wallet (EFT)

The following link provides details of the municipality’s approved electricity tariff structure:

https://www.ekurhuleni.gov.za/for-me/tariffs/