ZETDC announced that it will be upgrading all electricity meters. Now they cannot do it from their end because frankly, it would be a long and tedious task. Instead, you and I will be carrying out the meter upgrade and this upgrade is merely a software upgrade so no, you don’t need to buy a new meter. There are a few things you need to know before running the upgrade.
- If you have any unused electricity tokens you must recharge them before the upgrade.
- To upgrade your meter, ZETDC will send you 3 tokens that you enter in the sequence/order they provide them with.
- These 3 tokens for the upgrade are free and will be provided as a bundle with your regular token purchase.
- This upgrade process will be done in phases.
Your Prepaid meter will require an upgrade All prepaid meters will require upgrading in order for them to continue accepting tokens. Therefore all customers will be required to upgrade their prepaid meters.
ZETDC
The exercise will be done in phases from one area to another and schedules will be communicated in due course.
To upgrade your meter, you will receive 3 sets of tokens when you purchase electricity. Upgrading is done by entering all the three sets of tokens in the order they are provided.
Make the smart move today.
The 4 Steps: Today, the power utility issued an update on the matter notifying power consumers that they can upgrade their meters in “just 4 easy steps”
STEP 1 Purchase electricity You will get three sets of 20-digit tokens when you purchase electricity. The upgrade tokens are generated when you purchase electricity and are not paid for.
STEP 2 Enter the first set of 20-digit tokens Wait until Confirmation is received before proceeding.
STEP 3 Enter the second set of 20-digit tokens Wait until Confirmation is received before proceeding.
STEP 4 Enter the third set of 20-digit tokens Once complete your recharge token (the 3rd token) will be loaded successfully.
Why is ZETDC running this mass upgrade?
ZETDC has been running upgrades on its token system for a while now. At first, it was just to accommodate the monthly congestion on the token system as many people were buying new tokens for the month on the same day.
Those upgrades were on the system and server side of things. They are quite different from the upgrades to the meter which is an interesting and common anomaly with electronic devices.
How the prepaid meter works is this. The meter comes with built-in software and a unique device identifier. There is also a decryption algorithm on the meter which will make sense later on.
On the ZETDC side, their system has an algorithm that generates a key that is a part of your electricity token. This key is generated using your meter number which is why it is a requirement when you are buying tokens.
So when you purchase a token using your meter number, this token includes an encryption code in the sequence of your token number that is tied to a single meter, the meter number you entered, so it will only work on that meter.
The reason is that the decryption algorithm on your meter is the one with the correct key to unlock your token and recharge your meter.
This decryption key is part of the firmware/software of the meter. A software that is a standard and has been used since the late 90s.
The anomaly with electronic devices pushing ZETDC to carry out the upgrade
Prepaid electricity meters in Zimbabwe run the Standard Transfer Specification (STS) software, the same software South Africa is also using for its prepaid meters. It was developed in South Africa in 1993 and made a global standard for electricity prepaid meters.
Within the STS is the Token Identifier (TID), a 240-bit field embedded in tokens generated with the STS standard which specifies the date and time that the token was generated. It calculates this from the date 1 January 1993 and since it is represented in that 240-bit field in increments of 1 bit, it will reach a point where that 240-bit value is achieved, and any figure (date) after that 240-bit figure will not be recognized by the system.
What this means in English is that, on 24 November 2024, the old STS system will not be able to validate any new electricity token even though it is a valid token. What this upgrade aims to do is to reset this 240-bit timer and give us another 30 years.
Once the upgrade is done, the old tokens generated before the upgrade will have TID values that the meter will not recognize after it’s upgraded. That is why ZETDC is urging anyone with unused electricity tokens to use them before running the upgrade because there are no refunds for those.
Since we are using the same prepaid meter system that South Africa uses, they are also running the same upgrade on their prepaid electricity meters across Limpopo. This upgrade will be coming to all prepaid electricity meters manufactured before 2014 (meters running the version of STS from 1993) so if you are missed by the upgrade wave, worry not. You just probably already have a meter running the latest version of STS.
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So at 1 time l bought a token, received 3 tokens and didn’t know what to do. I went on to recharge the last one of the 3. The meter deleted all my token history and lost all my remaining power that l still l had. I had about 100 KW left before the recharge and thus went to zero….. ZETDC cheated me coz there was no prior communication regarding this. This was about 3 months ago and couldn’t recover this energy.
Lies detected! The last token is the power token so it wouldn’t work, because it relies on the previous tokens changing the meter key first. You would’ve received an incorrect token error instead.
Anyway, why would you try the last token first?
Hello, l have a similar situation. Only the part where l lost my 60 digit token because l didn’t know about the new development. Tried the tolen retrieval and the last token upon recharging, it was rejected. How then do l retrieve the 60dogit token
My three token are not responding….what should I do
My commercial acc had been changed from zwl to usd without prior notice. It cldnt purchase zwl tokens so i thought the system was dwn. Went to Wyne st and was told of the change. Bought the usd token and it came with 2 other tokens for the upgrade. Was told to first input the 2 upgrade tokens before recharging. After inputting the first 2 upgrade tokens the meter wiped abt 500 units in the meter and power went off until I recharged the current token. By that stroke i lost 500 units and am still fighting to get them back as they never advised that i had to use up the units first. Infact upon enquiry with front officers they were shocked that thats what their system does. Teapot kauntry for you
Guys, I’m still coasting on my covid tokens so forgive my ignorance (before you ask, i use gas, fridge is on sabbatical, bulbs are LED, geyser fell off the wall, work from home so iron is buried somewhere under some clothes). Will these upgrade tokens come from all the vendors or will we need to buy direct from zesa until we get the codes?
Upgrade tokens are coming with every token purchase no matter where you buy it
With the consistency and reliability not expected from a local server, does zesa have its own server for token generation, or are they riding on the South African server?
Now make plz make article explaining how econet juice cards get their numbers
😅😅
Telecel introduced juice instead of recharge and it became very popular in the early in 90s. It’s trade name was Mango.
ehe ah ok
What if you have already bought your tokens for the month. Do you need to buy more tokens before 24th November to get the 3 codes?
As I understand it this process will be ongoing to November 2024.
What happens to those of us who will buy tokens electronically? Will the tokens come through as well or we have to buy physical slips?
The upgrade tokens will come no matter what method you use to buy electricity
Thanks ever so much for such a candid explanation. The upgrade will be done with effortless ease. Imagine the inconvenience, chaos and congestion that would ensue had users been required to take their meters to ZESA for the exercise.
When should we do this in Ridgeway North Chisipite
My 3rd token is being rejected
I didn’t receive the upgrade tokens. I only received one token when I bought power and I can’t use that token because my meter is rejecting to juice up. Please advise on how I can get the upgrade tokens generated for my meter!!
Go to zetdc self service page, there is a heding titled KEY CHANGE TOKEN, click there enter meter number and you view the other 2 tokens. Enter them in their order and the energy token last
Why is it when I try to retrieve the other 2 tokens online am getting an error message invalid token
Invalid meter number****sorry
Thankyou very good and clear information.
My take is PLEASE organise for Bulawayo to have its own Call Centre.
Having the call centre in Harare is very frustrating, as messages are not always put through to the maintenance team in Bilawayo : plus Harare guys are not familiar with Bulawayo addresses and suburbs.
Thankyou in advance
So do we need to buy new meters? I’m confused
I happened not to enter the three token in their given sequence
But I have now tried to enter it in its sequence but still the token are not being accepted
Its rejecting my tokens what should l do
I’m failing to topup my ZESA token, bought it online and didn’t receive the other two tokens for the key change. I’ve just been trying to retrieve last two tokens but am getting the same token on both 1 and 2
We shall see once we try to upgrade! Otherwise we welcome any change meant to improve service!
I’m failing to recharge my zesa, is it because of this upgrade too?
Bought the token but there is only one Set of token what do I do?
my 3rd token is not recharging
I think I recharged the tokens in the wrong order now the meter says PAD LOCK, this is all so confusing and annoying, pls help anyone, ZeSA isn’t answering my calls
My zesa finished and bought zesa nd lm trying to put one token nd waiting fr confirmation but its not confirming its rejecting the last token wat should l do
I bought my token yesterday using cellphone banking and never received the token
Bought Zesa token and received 3 of them after topping up all 3 tokens the meter still reads 0:00
I bought my token but I failled to get 3 token I just receive 1 how can I get other 2 tokens
myy last token has 16 digits and I’ve been trying to recharge the first 2 tokens, all of them are being rejected
My upgrade tokens are giving me hard times. How can i retrieve them??
I can’t load token key change 3 it is rejecting
How many units does a 3phase commercial Zesa meter have when installed on a new point