The Msunduzi Municipality has warned that some residents in the Hilton area have been billed for refuse collection in error.
The customers billed in error are those who do not receive the service of refuse collection from the Msunduzi Municipality.
Hilton is serviced by both uMngeni Local Municipality as well as Msunduzi. It receives some services from Msunduzi and others from uMngeni.
In a statement, Msunduzi Municipality said: “The municipality is aware of concerns raised by members of the Hilton community in relation to Hilton accounts that are billed for refuse collection as reflected on the August statements.
“The municipality does provide refuse collection to some parts of the Hilton area but there are customers residing in Hilton who have been billed for refuse collection over the past year,” it said.
An exercise was conducted by both the Waste Management and Revenue Management departments to confirm the completeness of billing for all customers who must be billed for refuse removal services, it said.
“We acknowledge, there may have been customers who were billed as part of this process in other parts of Hilton that should not have been billed for refuse collection as they have not received that service from the municipality.
“The municipality is currently investigating the billing for all Hilton customers to ensure only customers who received the refuse collection services are being billed. We apologise to the customers who may have been billed in error.
“The investigation and verification exercise by the municipality will be completed by August 31, 2024. The municipality will reverse the refuse charge for those customers who may have been billed in error. These corrections will appear on the September statements,” it said.
“The municipality is committed to continuously improve the accuracy of consumer bills and apologise for the inconvenience that may have been caused.”
The municipality said any individual queries may be addressed to nontuthuko.dlamini@msunduzi.gov.za and khanyisile.shoba@msunduzi.gov.za
The Mercury