Your property manager negotiates your contract tariff for your property. For more details on your specific rates and tariff structures, please contact them for more information. SmartMatter is only responsible for metering and billing your consumption on behalf of your property manager. It's important to familiarise yourself with your property’s specific tariff structures per contract offered. This is accessible by scrolling down (below the graphs) on each contract screen within the app.
South African Utility Tariff Regulatory Bodies
Energy utility tariffs are determined by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), an independent regulatory authority that oversees the electricity, piped-gas, and petroleum pipeline industries in the country. They're responsible for setting and regulating tariffs for these sectors to ensure fair pricing and efficient use of resources.
Water tariffs are typically determined by your local municipality or water service authorities and are responsible for managing water supply and sanitation services within your jurisdictions. The tariffs are usually set based on various factors such as the cost of water treatment and distribution, maintenance of infrastructure, administrative expenses, and often taking into consideration the socio-economic conditions of the region.
The National Water Act of South Africa provides a framework for the management and regulation of water resources in the country. However, the specifics of tariff determination can vary from one municipality to another, as local conditions and priorities differ.
SmartMatter assure you that we charge standard municipal tariffs as outlined in your municipality's rates schedule. You can view your applicable tariffs and charges for each contract in the app, promoting transparency. Alternatively, you can visit your municipal website to download the utility rate schedule booklet directly from them.
There are two main methods of calculating the cost of your consumption, Step charges and Time of Use charges.
Fixed basic charges
Either of these two methods can have additional fixed charges on a daily or monthly basis added to them. The fixed charges are generally for access to utilities and go towards the maintenance of the infrastructure that gets the utilities to your house. This is typically charged once a month (typically on the 1st) and debited (separately from usage) from your SM Wallet
1. Step Charges
This method works on the concept of cumulative monthly usage. As your cumulative usage for the month increases, you will pay more for your usage later in the month.
Example of electricity step charges:
Step 1: 0 - 600 kWh @ R2,13/kWh
Step 2: 600+ kWh @ R2,98/kWh
This tariff states that as long as your cumulative usage for the month is less than 600kWh, you will pay R2,13 for every kWh you use. But as soon as your cumulative usage for the month adds up to 600kWh, you will start paying R2,98 for every kWh for the rest of the month. The cumulative counter resets every month and you start on 0 again.
Remember! If Network Access charges apply, this will also be added to your total usage for the day. Here's an example of how a daily total for electricity is calculated: Usage (10.23kWh x R2.13/kWh) + Network charge (R4.80 p/d incl. VAT) = Total charge for the day (R26,59)
2. Time of Use
Where Step charges you for your total consumption of the month, Time of Use charges you for the time of the day that you consume the utility. Time of Use is generally reserved for electricity and will reward you with a cheaper rate if you use electricity at a time of the day when there is not a big load on the grid.
Time slot
Stage
Rate
00:00 - 06:00
off-peak
R0,97/kWh
06:00 - 09:00
peak
R3,12/kWh
09:00 - 17:00
standard
R2,65/kWh
17:00 - 19:00
peak
R3,12/kWh
19:00 - 22:00
standard
R2,65/kWh
22:00-24:00
off-peak
R0,97/kWh
When using electricity between 6:00 and 9:00 in the morning, you will pay R3,12 for every kWh you use. But if you use electricity in the evening after 22:00, you will only pay R0,97 for every kWh you use. These time-of-use tariffs can also change depending on the day of the week and the season (summer & winter) of the year.