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Energy Minister Urges Ugandans to Upgrade Yaka Meters Before Token Identifier Rollover

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Energy Minister Urges Ugandans to Upgrade Yaka Meters Before Token Identifier Rollover
the ministry's request for close to $200 million in compensation for UMEME

The minister’s remarks come as the country nears completion of a significant upgrade to its prepayment electricity meters, which is essential to maintaining uninterrupted electricity services for millions of consumers.

The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa, has urged Ugandans to upgrade their prepaid Yaka meters ahead of the Token Identifier (TID) Rollover despite the deadline elapsing on November 24.

The minister’s remarks come as the country nears completion of a significant upgrade to its prepayment electricity meters, which is essential to maintaining uninterrupted electricity services for millions of consumers.

Uganda has made impressive strides in the upgrade process, with 2.2 million electricity meters already successfully transitioned to meet the global Token Identifier (TID) rollover standards.

This represents an outstanding 95.1% completion rate, well ahead of the November 2024 deadline.

The upgrade is critical as it ensures that meters can continue to accept new tokens beyond the cutoff date, preventing potential power disruptions for customers.

“The TID upgrade is a critical milestone for ensuring the continuity of power supply. With this upgrade, the customer experience will remain smooth, without any vending interruptions, as Uganda meets the global standards set by the STS Association,” Nankabirwa said during the press briefing.

The YAKA meter upgrade, which is essentially a software update, is aimed at ensuring that customers can continue to purchase tokens for electricity after the deadline.

After completing the upgrade, users will be able to load tokens onto their meters without facing any issues related to the TID Rollover.

However, while progress has been remarkable, some Ugandans have yet to comply. As of today, 112,000 meters under Umeme and 17,122 meters under UEDCL remain unupgraded.

Ms Nankabirwa explained that these cases stem from a variety of unique circumstances, including:

  1. Unoccupied Rental Properties: Some rental units remain vacant, making it difficult to facilitate the upgrade.
  2. Homes in Remote Areas or With Absent Owners: Properties where owners are either overseas or in distant regions are harder to reach.
  3. Meter Tampering and Electricity Theft: In some cases, illegal activities have hindered the upgrade process until legal or technical resolutions are made.
  4. Disputed Properties: Homes embroiled in legal disputes or those owned by deceased individuals have also delayed upgrades.

Despite these challenges, Nankabirwa emphasized that the majority of Ugandans are now compliant. "I want to commend the efforts of all those who have already upgraded their meters and urge those who have not to take immediate action to avoid any disruptions," she stated.

For customers unsure whether their meters are upgraded, the Minister provided simple instructions for verification. For Conlog meters, users should press #005#, with the result “r1:t2” indicating a non-upgraded meter and “r2:t2” or “r2:t10” indicating an upgraded meter.

Similarly, for Hexing and Chint meters, users should press 873 and check the display; "01" signals a non-upgraded meter, while "02" signals an upgraded one. Inhemeter users can press 873 and check the display for “01-02” (not upgraded) or “02-02” (upgraded).

In a positive development, all meters installed after May 2024 were pre-configured to meet the new system, ensuring that users of these meters will experience no service interruptions.

As the deadline approaches, the Ministry of Energy continues to advise all customers to verify their meter status to prevent unexpected issues. Minister Nankabirwa urged every Ugandan who has not yet upgraded their meters to act swiftly.

"To avoid any disruption in your electricity supply, I urge all customers to complete the upgrade process before the November 2024 deadline," she concluded.

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