Durban - Today (Tuesday) is the last day for ratepayers, who are struggling to pay their accounts, to register for the eThekwini Municipality’s debt relief programme.
The municipality said the Debt Relief Programme allows customers to settle their outstanding debt with the reversal of interest accrued.
“The programme benefits customers whose debt is 90 days and older. The customer and the municipality will enter into a payment plan agreement that does not exceed 36 months and is based on a customer’s affordability,” it said.
A down payment of five percent for residential customers and 10 percent for business customers of the total debt is required to be paid upfront in order to register for the programme
The historical interest accumulated will be written off and no future interest will be raised on the debt until it is paid in full, provided the customer complies with the conditions of the agreement.
“If the arrangement is defaulted upon, interest will be reinstated. Further to the interest write-off, depending on the number of months the customer will choose, a percentage of capital write-off will be done,” the City said.
Customers who are interested in benefiting from this programme can visit their nearest Sizakala Customer Service Centre.
The programme is meant to assist the customers that are battling to make payment for a variety of reasons including those who have lost their jobs as a result of looting and the floods.
The municipality is owed billions of rand by ratepayers.