The Key Revision Number (KRN) or the Token Identifier (TID) Rollover Programme is a prepaid electricity metering industry undertaking to ensure that all prepaid meters that will roll over to a new Token Identifier Code on 24 November 2024 are correctly re-coded.

Each token is encoded with a unique Token Identifier (TID), which has a limited range and will run out (rollover) on 24 November 2024. After this date, all STS-compliant meters will stop accepting credit tokens, unless an intervention takes place, which means that all these meters need to receive the TID Rollover Key Change with the new base date before this date.

If you don’t recode, when you buy electricity after November 2024, your meter will NOT load your purchased tokens. Every meter in South African HAS to be recoded.

If the meter codes are not updated, the prepaid tokens bought will not work on those meters, leaving you without electricity.  The meter coding project is being done for technical reasons to ensure that all Eskom prepaid meters continue working.
It is like upgrading your cellphone – you can use most cellphones for a long time, but sometimes they stop working correctly so you need to upgrade your phone’s software.

The recoding of prepaid meters is not an Eskom-only project the recoding of prepaid meters needs to be done for all Eskom prepayment supply customers, also those of the South African municipalities as well as customers using STS-type prepaid meters in various other countries. The software of all prepaid meters in South Africa must be recoded, no matter who supplies your electricity.  Municipalities and prepaid electricity vendors are running similar projects.

Eskom has successfully completed a pilot project in Riverside View in Gauteng. 5000 meters were recoded and rolled over to KRN2. Eskom is preparing to kick off its prepaid meter recode initiative to all its customers around the country. It is envisaged that Eskom will start within the next month or two.

The prepaid meters are not being changes, they will work exactly the same as they work now, they are just being recoded. The only change coming in now is if the meter is not recoded, it will not accept the tokens purchased after 24 Nov 2024. All prepaid meters in South Africa that comply to the Standard Transfer Specification (STS) must be recoded.

Yes, this project is only to recode prepaid meters, to ensure they remain working after 24 November 2024.
All STS prepayment meters will be affected by the TID rollover on 24 November 2024. Any tokens generated after this date and utilising the 24-bit TID will be rejected by the meters as being old tokens as the TID value embedded in the token will have reset back to 0.

There are about 6.6 million prepaid meters in the Eskom supply areas, across South Africa.

Eskom will start in designated areas and inform the customers in that area when the project will start and how it will work. This is a customer Do It Yourself (DIY) process to recode your prepaid meter. Eskom will provide you with easy, step-by-step instructions that will enable you to recode your meter yourself.

Eskom will brief its approved vending agents so that their systems are enabled to remind you to do the recoding yourself.
When the recoding starts in your area you will receive two key change tokens with your normal credit token.  You will be guided to punch in the numbers of the key change tokens into your meter in a specific order, to re-code your meter.  You will then be able to load your meter with credit with your credit token, or you may load any other tokens e.g. free basic electricity tokens thereafter.

There is NO cost to recoding your meter.  You will NOT be required to pay for this recoding change.   Should anyone ask you to pay for this service, immediately report that to the SAPS or Eskom (08600 37566).