Objectives

The primary objectives of this tender are to appoint a service provider capable of supplying, installing, and maintaining an online vending and smart revenue protection system, including revenue protection measures, for a period of thirty-six (36) months. The project aims to enhance revenue collection, improve service delivery, ensure accurate metering, reduce losses, and support municipal financial management through integrated and reliable systems.

Scope

The scope encompasses:

• Supply, installation, and maintenance of prepaid electricity and water vending systems, including third-party vending solutions.
• Implementation of revenue protection mechanisms, including meter audits and tampering detection.
• Management of Large Power Users (LPU) with remote metering, data collection, and billing systems.
• Integration with existing municipal financial and management systems.
• Provision of online, mobile, and third-party vending channels.
• System configuration, data migration, and ongoing support for a 36-month period.

Technical Requirements

The technical specifications include:

• Development of a TCP/IP compliant, scalable, and secure system supporting Ethernet, Wi-Fi, GPRS, LTE, and other networks.
• Support for multi-utility management (electricity and water) within a single platform with linked consumer records.
• Use of standards such as Eskom XMLVend 2.1, SABS 1524, IEC 1036, and NRS 009-4-2 for interoperability and compliance.
• Design of a resilient system architecture with off-site management servers, disaster recovery plans, and redundancy.
• Capacity to manage at least 200,000 consumers/meters with transaction history of approximately 50 million records.
• Provision of web-based management interfaces, role-based access, and secure data encryption (TLS 1.2+).
• Support for real-time and near real-time data exchange, including API integrations, batch processing, and mSCOA compliance.
• Support for vending tariffs, VAT calculations, account payments, arrears management, and tamper notifications.
• Implementation of security features including SSL certificates, user authentication, audit logs, and tamper alerts.

Skills and Experience Requirements

The successful bidder must demonstrate:

• Extensive experience in municipal revenue systems, prepaid vending, and metering solutions.
• Proven track record in deploying large-scale online vending and AMR systems.
• Technical expertise in electrical and water metering, including compliance with NRS standards and NERSA regulations.
• Capability to provide system integration, data migration, and ongoing technical support.
• Qualified project team with skills in electrical engineering, software development, system architecture, and project management.
• Experience in implementing security protocols, disaster recovery, and system redundancy.
• Ability to deliver comprehensive training, documentation, and post-implementation support.