Terms of service

Last updated: 12 November 2026

These terms explain how you may use the Optimize Energy website and client portal, and the terms on which we work for you when you ask us to help with a municipal account. Please read them carefully. The parts in bold limit our responsibility or ask you to take on responsibility, so please pay special attention to them.

By creating an account, or by paying a fee, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the portal or our services.

1. Who we are

Optimize Energy is an independent South African service that represents residents and small businesses in their dealings with municipalities about municipal accounts.

In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean Optimize Energy. "You" means the person or business that uses the website or asks us to help. "Municipality" means the municipality, or its utility entity (for example City Power or Johannesburg Water), that your account is with. A "case" is one matter we take on for you.

We are not part of any municipality, City Power or Johannesburg Water, and no municipality has appointed or endorsed us. We act for you, as your appointed representative, under a letter of authority that you sign.

2. What we do

We deal with the following municipalities on your behalf: the City of Johannesburg (including City Power and Johannesburg Water accounts), the City of Tshwane, the City of Ekurhuleni, Mogale City and Emfuleni.

We can help with problems such as:

• billing queries and disputes;
• meter and meter-reading problems, including water meter changes;
• arrears, and applying for payment arrangements with the municipality;
• objections to property rates and valuations;
• prepaid meter applications;
• applying for the municipality's own arrears relief or account rehabilitation programmes, where the municipality offers them;
• pensioner and other rebates;
• closing an account;
• requesting Section 118 clearance figures.

For each case, we tell you in the portal which services we will provide.

3. What we do not do

So that you know exactly what to expect:

• The municipality makes the decisions, not us. We present your case, follow it up and push for an answer, but we cannot promise that a municipality will agree, reduce an amount, or reply by a particular date.
• We do not guarantee any result or timeline.
• We are not attorneys and we do not give legal advice. We do not represent you in court and we do not prepare court documents. If your matter needs a lawyer, we will tell you so that you can appoint one.
• We are not debt counsellors. We do not offer debt review or debt counselling, and we do not lend money or arrange credit.
• We are not financial advisers and we do not give financial advice.
• We are not conveyancers. We can request clearance figures, but when a property is transferred, the Section 118 clearance certificate is applied for through the conveyancer handling the transfer.
• We do not collect or hold money for the municipality. You pay what you owe the municipality directly to the municipality, through its official payment channels.
• We cannot stop a municipality from taking credit control action, such as restricting or disconnecting a service, although we can ask it to hold off while a dispute is being dealt with.

4. How it works

1. You create an account in the portal and upload your municipal account and any supporting documents (for example your ID, title deed, lease, SASSA letter or photos of a meter).
2. Shan reviews your documents and tells you whether we can help. There is no charge for this review.
3. If we can help, we explain what we will do, and you sign a letter of authority for each municipality and account we will deal with.
4. You pay the sign-on fee. We start work only after you have paid it.
5. If further work is needed, we show the fee in the portal before you pay or approve it.
6. You can follow progress, send messages and share documents in the portal, and you can also contact us on WhatsApp.
7. We close the case when the matter is resolved, when you ask us to stop, or when there is nothing more we can reasonably do. We tell you in the portal when a case is closed.

5. Your responsibilities

You agree to:

• give us information and documents that are true, complete and up to date;
• tell us promptly if anything changes, or if the municipality contacts you directly about the case;
• only ask us to act on an account or property where you are the account holder or owner, or have the account holder's or owner's permission;
• get the permission of any other person whose information you give us (for example a tenant, co-owner or household member), or make sure we are allowed to use it;
• keep paying the municipality the amounts that are lawfully due, including the undisputed part of your account while a dispute is open, as municipal credit control policies usually require;
• reply to our questions within a reasonable time;
• keep your portal password private.

6. The letter of authority

Municipalities need written proof that we may act for you. For each municipality and account, you sign a letter of authority that says exactly what we may and may not do. You may cancel a letter of authority at any time by telling us in writing, and we will then stop acting on that account and let the municipality know.

You may sign the letter of authority electronically in the portal. If a municipality insists on a handwritten signature or certified copies, we will ask you for them.

7. Fees

• Sign-on fee. Our sign-on fee is [to be confirmed: sign-on fee amount]. It covers [to be confirmed: what the sign-on fee covers]. You pay it only after we have confirmed that we can help.
• Further fees. Some work is charged per service, and some by the time we spend, at [to be confirmed: hourly rate] per hour. Before you pay or approve any further fee, the portal shows you what it is for and how much it is. We do not charge for work you have not approved.
• VAT. If we are registered for VAT, all fees shown include VAT at 15%.
• Municipal charges are separate. Any amount the municipality charges (for example for a meter test, a clearance figure or a new connection) is payable by you to the municipality and is not part of our fees.
• Statement. The portal shows every charge and every payment on your case, and you can view or download it at any time.

8. Payments

8.1 You pay our fees in the portal through PayFast, a South African payment provider. You can pay by card, instant EFT or, where offered, buy now pay later.

8.2 Your card and bank details go directly to PayFast. We do not see or keep them.

8.3 If you choose buy now pay later, your repayment agreement is with the provider of that service, on its own terms.

8.4 Before you pay, the portal shows what each charge is for and how much it is. If anything is wrong, tell us before you pay and we will correct it. You can still cancel on the payment page before you confirm the payment.

8.5 We will never ask you to pay a municipal account into our bank account, and we will never ask for your card details by phone, WhatsApp or email. If anyone claiming to be from Optimize Energy asks you to do this, do not pay, and please contact us on 081 484 4964.

9. Cancellation and refunds

9.1 Cooling-off period. If you are an individual paying online, you may cancel within seven days after paying the sign-on fee, without giving a reason and without penalty, and we will refund what you paid within 30 days.

9.2 If you ask us to start straight away. You can ask us in writing (a portal message, email or WhatsApp) to start work during those seven days. If you do, and we start, the seven-day cooling-off right no longer applies to that service. You can still cancel under clause 9.3.

9.3 Cancelling at any other time. You may cancel a case at any time by telling us in the portal, by email or on WhatsApp. We will stop work as soon as we receive your message. Then:

• if we have not started work, we refund the sign-on fee in full;
• if we have started, we keep a fair part of the fee that reflects the work already done, and refund the rest;
• time already worked and services already delivered before you cancelled remain payable;
• anything you paid in advance for work we have not done is refunded.

9.4 If we cannot continue. If we find that we cannot help after all, or we have to stop for a reason that is not your fault, we will tell you why and refund the fees for work we have not done.

9.5 If our service falls short. If our work is not done in the manner and quality you are entitled to expect, tell us. We will either put it right or refund a reasonable part of the fee, depending on how far the work fell short.

9.6 The outcome. Because the municipality decides the outcome, a decision by the municipality that you are unhappy with is not, by itself, a reason for a refund. Your rights under clause 9.5 still apply.

9.7 How refunds are paid. We refund to the payment method you used, through PayFast, within 30 days. Buy now pay later refunds are made through that provider.

9.8 Nothing in this clause takes away any right to cancel or to a refund that the law gives you.

10. Timelines

We will start work on your case within [to be confirmed: number of business days] business days after you have paid the sign-on fee and signed the letter of authority. You agree that your case is a continuing service that lasts until the case is closed, and that municipal processes often take longer than 30 days. We will keep you updated in the portal and tell you promptly about any delay we know of.

11. How we communicate

We communicate with you through the portal, by email and on WhatsApp. By giving us your cellphone number, you agree that we may contact you on WhatsApp and by phone about your case. We send marketing messages only if you have agreed to receive them (see our privacy policy). Messages and notices we send electronically count as being in writing.

12. Virtual Shan (AI assistant)

Virtual Shan is an AI assistant on our website, not a person. It gives general information about our services and the process, and helps you get started.

• It can make mistakes, and its answers are not legal, financial or professional advice.
• It cannot make promises on our behalf. Only Shan can confirm whether we can help and what it will cost.
• Please do not type your ID number, bank or card details, or full account numbers into the chat. Upload documents in your portal instead.
• How your chat messages are handled is explained in our privacy policy.

13. Our responsibility to you

13.1 We will do our work with the care and skill you can reasonably expect from a service like ours.

13.2 We are not responsible for decisions, delays, errors or actions of a municipality, including interest, penalties, restrictions or disconnections, unless our own negligence caused or contributed to the loss.

13.3 We are not responsible for loss caused by information or documents you gave us that were false, incomplete or out of date, or by your not paying amounts that are lawfully due to the municipality.

13.4 If we are responsible for a loss, our total liability for a case is limited to the total fees you paid us for that case.

13.5 We are not responsible for indirect or consequential loss, such as loss of profit or business opportunity, that could not reasonably have been foreseen when you engaged us.

13.6 Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for gross negligence, wilful misconduct or fraud, for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for anything else that the law does not allow us to limit or exclude. If you are a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, nothing in these terms takes away your rights under those Acts.

14. Your responsibility to us

If you give us information or documents that are false or misleading, or you tell us you have authority over an account or property when you do not, you agree to compensate us for the reasonable costs, losses and claims by others (for example by a municipality or the true owner of the property) that result. This does not apply to the extent that the loss was caused by our own fault.

15. Your account and fair use

You must be 18 or older to create an account. You agree not to misuse the website or portal, for example by trying to get into other people's accounts, uploading harmful files, overloading the system, or using the AI assistant for anything unrelated to our services. If you think someone else has used your account, tell us straight away.

16. Our content

The text, design, logos and software of this website belong to us or to those who licensed them to us. You may view and print pages for your own use, but you may not copy or republish them for commercial purposes without our permission. Documents you upload remain yours. You allow us to use them only to work on your case.

17. Availability of the website

We try to keep the website and portal available at all times, but we cannot promise that they will always be available or free of errors. We may need to take them offline for maintenance or security. If the portal is down, you can reach us on 081 484 4964 or by email.

18. Suspending or ending our service

We may suspend your account, or stop working on a case, if you give us false information, act abusively towards our staff or municipal officials, do not pay a fee you approved, or use the website unlawfully. Where we can, we will warn you first and give you a chance to put things right. If we stop working on a case, we will tell you why, and clause 9.4 applies to any refund.

19. Privacy

Our privacy policy explains how we collect, use and protect your personal information. It forms part of these terms.

20. Complaints and disputes

If you are unhappy with our service, please tell us first so that we can try to put it right. Our complaints procedure explains how to complain, how long we take to respond, and where else you can go if you are not satisfied. Nothing in these terms prevents you from approaching any regulator, ombud, tribunal or court that has jurisdiction.

21. Law and courts

South African law applies to these terms. If we need to take legal action against you, we will do so in the Magistrates' Court that has jurisdiction over you.

22. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time, and the date at the top will show when they last changed. Changes apply to cases opened after the change. If a change would affect a case you have already paid for, we will tell you first, and the change will apply to that case only if you agree.

23. General

• If any part of these terms is found to be invalid, the rest remains in force.
• If we do not enforce a right straight away, we have not given it up.
• We will send legal notices to the email address on your account, and you may send legal notices to us at the address for legal notices in clause 1.

24. Contact us

Phone or WhatsApp 081 484 4964, email optimizeenergy@outlook.com, or send a message in your portal.