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Meter tampering, the sneaky art of tweaking utility meters to bend the rules, is a serious criminal offence that the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (“the City”) doesn’t take lightly. But what happens when things go wrong and the customer is wrongly accused of having tampered?
There is an emerging trend of penalties being wrongly imposed on customers for alleged meter tampering, where it turns out that the customer was not guilty of tampering.
In this article, we will dissect what meter tampering is all about, explore the legal labyrinth it entails under the City’s watchful eye, and uncover the penalties that could zap you into compliance faster than a power surge. We will further analyse what is lawful and what is not when it comes to the City imposing penalties for supposed “non-compliance”.
Definition of Meter Tampering
Meter tampering isn’t a nifty trick to save you a few bucks on your utility bill. It’s a criminal offence that could land you in jail, because it is the illegal fiddling of metering devices, whether by physical alteration, or any other means to mess with the system.
City Power has defined meter tampering as “any action that results in the breaking of a seal; opening‚ adjustment or removal of a meter; bypassing a meter; opening of a meter box; or interfering with the meter or municipal wiring‚ piping or any other installation in any manner whatsoever.” ¹
Tampering is an activity that includes altering, cutting, disturbing, interfering with, interrupting, manipulating, obstructing, removing or uprooting by any means, method or device an essential infrastructure, or component of the essential infrastructure, which provides a basic service.²
Legal Framework in Johannesburg
The City’s got rules – lots of them – when it comes to how electricity and water distribution is handled. The City’s Water Services Bylaws and Electricity Bylaws lay down the law on everything from what is considered as “non-compliance”, to what happens when you get caught with your hand in the metaphorical utility cookie jar illegally tampering with meters.
Click here for the full article on HGB Schindlers website.