Hi, I’m Ifytext Chibuzor. I'm an electrician. I have spent over 4 years working with prepaid meters, solar setups, and inverters. I started PowerPek to share real-life solutions to the everyday power issues many of us face with our prepaid meters — from token errors to meter tampering warnings and many others.
Hi, I’m Ifytext Chibuzor. I'm an electrician. I have spent over 4 years working with prepaid meters, solar setups, and inverters. I started PowerPek to share real-life solutions to the everyday power issues many of us face with our prepaid meters — from token errors to meter tampering warnings and many others.
While you may have been using an electricity token for a while, there are still hidden facts about electricity tokens that you may not know. Hence, it becomes imperative to know everything about electricity tokens to enable you to utilize them properly.
The electricity token, also called a prepayment token, is a digital voucher, usually a 20-digit number, that electricity users can input into their electricity meters, which in turn adds credit to their accounts. It works on the principle of pay-as-you-go. So, to be able to use electricity, you will need to pay upfront.
The tokens are meter-specific and have an expiration date. So, you can only use the token for the meter that you purchased it for, and it also has a validity period. In the subsequent sections, we shall be throwing more light on all you should know about an electricity token.
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🔗 Join Now on TelegramWhat are electricity tokens?
Electricity tokens, also known as prepayment tokens or top-up tokens, are digital vouchers that consumers purchase to pay for electricity usage in advance.
These tokens normally contain a unique code that electricity users can input into their electricity meters, which in turn adds credit to their accounts. In Nigeria, the electricity token is usually a unique 20-digit number. Once loaded on a meter, it will add to its credit balance.
Tokens work on the principle of pay-as-you-go, allowing electricity consumers to monitor and track their energy consumption with ease. With these tokens, the issue of estimated billing has become a thing of the past since electricity users can only consume electricity equivalent to the credit available on their meters.
Things you Should Know About your Electricity Token Prepaid Meter
As a user of a prepaid meter, it is important to know everything about the electricity token because it will help you use the token appropriately. There are lots of things that prepaid meter users don’t know about electricity tokens. In this section, we shall be enumerating 6 hidden facts about tokes. Let’s get started.
1. Electricity tokens are meter-specific.
This means that an electricity token is generated primarily for a particular meter. If you have recharged your meter online or offline before, you will agree with me that during the recharge process, you will be asked to provide your meter number. This is done so that the token is coded with a specific ID of the meter so that it won’t work in any other meter.
In the simplest terms, once an electricity token is purchased for a particular meter, it won’t be accepted for another meter. So, the token can only work on the meter whose number you used during the purchasing process. To this end, it is important for you to be very careful when entering the meter number during the token purchasing process to avoid making a mistake.
2. The token identifier has a Limited Range
If you have been following the trends recently, you may have noticed that there is a continuous clamor for STS (Standard Transfer Specification) prepaid meter users globally to upgrade their meter before November 2024 so their meter will continue working.
The reason for this call is because the token identifier has a limited range; hence, it will run out in November 2024. This means that when the token is rolled over by the end of 2024 and you don’t upgrade your meter, you may not be able to load tokens onto your prepaid meter again.
3. The electricity token expires
Let me burst your bubbles. Do you know that the electricity token expires? Perhaps you are just hearing this for the first time. The truth is that it expires and has a validity period, after which the token becomes worthless.
The validity period for tokens is 3 months. This means that if you don’t load the token within three months after purchasing it, it will become worthless and won’t add units to your electricity credit again.
For your information, anytime that you try loading a token to your prepaid meter and you get the response ‘’old,’’ it means that such a token has expired.
As a sequel to that, it is best for you to load your token as soon as you purchase it to avoid stories that touch the heart.
4. No Refund for a Token
If you have a change of mind after buying a token or mistakenly bought an electricity token for the wrong meter number, you won’t get a refund from your electricity provider.
What this means is that once a token is generated, it cannot be undone; hence, it is best to decide before buying a token and also ensure that you input your meter number correctly during the purchasing process to avoid any errors.
5. Electricity Tokens are Saved on your Account
This means that whenever you buy an electricity token from a vendor, be it a bank or other merchant, the tokens are saved in the account you have with them.
So, apart from the usual email, display notification, and SMS you get after token purchase, you can still access all the tokens you had previously used on your account.
6. Prepaid Meter can Reject Electricity Tokens
If you have used a prepaid meter for a long time, you will agree with me that there are instances where your meter rejects the token when you try loading it. There are lots of reasons why your meter may reject a token, ranging from network issues and a meter not properly activated to a change in tariff plan.
Once your meter rejects a token, kindly reach out to your electricity provider for assistance.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What do I need to know about prepaid meter tokens?
There are many things that you should know about prepaid meter tokens, especially if you use a prepaid meter in managing your energy consumption. The important things that you should know are that prepaid tokens have a validity period, the tokens are meter-specific, if you make mistakes when buying the tokens, you won’t be refunded, etc.
How does an electricity token work?
Electricity tokens contain the exact units of electricity that are equal to the amount you used in buying them. Once you load the token into your prepaid meter, it will translate automatically to credit units. The electricity token is usually 20 digits in number, and they are unique to the particular prepaid meter whose number was used for the purchase.
Conclusion
In this article, we revealed all you need to know about prepaid electricity tokens, where we stated that electricity tokens are meter-specific, can expire, and their identifiers have limited range, among others. It is important for you to know all these facts about electricity tokens to enable you to utilize them judiciously.
Hi, I’m Ifytext Chibuzor. I'm an electrician. I have spent over 4 years working with prepaid meters, solar setups, and inverters. I started PowerPek to share real-life solutions to the everyday power issues many of us face with our prepaid meters — from token errors to meter tampering warnings and many others.
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