5 Things You Should Know About Your Electricity Token

You probably know the drill on BuyPower. Log in, enter your details, pay, and get your electricity token. It’s that simple.  However, there’s so much you probably don’t know about your electricity token.

Now, this post isn’t to bore you on how tokens are created and all that.

In this article, you’ll learn some facts about electricity tokens that can come in handy and will make your electricity journey even smoother.

1. Your Electricity Token is Generated For a Specific Meter

When you want to buy electricity units whether online or offline, you’d be asked to share your meter number. Well, the reason is that before an electricity token can be generated, it has to be encrypted using the unique ID of the meter.

To put it simply, a token can only be generated for a specific meter. This means that you cannot load a purchased token on a different meter. Your token can only be used by the meter number you entered at the point of a transaction. So always make sure you buy for the correct meter number.

2. Your Token Can Expire

Contrary to popular belief, your token can actually expire. After getting your electricity token, you are required to enter it into your meter. If you cannot enter it into your prepaid meter for some reason, don’t fret. Your token is valid for 3 months.

If you try to enter a token and you get the response ‘old’, it simply means that it has expired.

Pro tip: Always load your token in the order of purchase to avoid errors

3. You Cannot Get Refunds for a Token

If you erroneously buy an electricity token for the wrong meter number, or you changed your mind after getting a token, you cannot send it back. This relies heavily on the fact that a token can only be used by a specific meter. So once it’s generated, you have to use it. It cannot be resold.

A refund is only possible when a token has not been processed.

4. All Your Electricity Tokens are Saved on Your Account

Asides from the SMS, Email, and display notifications you get for your tokens, every utility transaction carried out on your Buypower account is saved. This includes all the tokens you received while using that account.

So if you lost track of all your messages or you cannot simply pinpoint which token came in first, simply visit your transaction history. You can learn more about how to do this here.

5. Your Meter Can Reject Your Token

Even if you buy electricity for the correct meter, your token can still get rejected when you try to load it.  This usually happens when a meter hasn’t been activated yet or in scenarios where there’s been a change in the tariff index.

You simply have to contact your electricity distribution company for an activation code and you’ll be able to load your token again.

I hope you’ve learned something new today. Do share this post with your friends and family.

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