TID rollover countdown: Just 13 months until the TID Rollover Event

As of the 24th of October 2023, we are exactly 13 months away from the TID rollover event. This means that utilities and municipalities are left with only 13 months to make sure they meet the deadline for the rollout of the new systems by 24 November 2024.

TID represents the number of minutes elapsed since the base date of 1st January 1993. The incrementing of the 24-bit field means that at some point in time, the TID value will roll over to a zero value. This means that all STS prepayment meters will be affected by TID rollover on 24/11/2024.

STSA has approximately 70 million prepayment meters currently installed worldwide, and this number continues to grow steadily every year. All utilities are obliged to upgrade their vending systems to the STS Edition 2. This transition also involves resetting the memory of each prepayment meter before November 2024.

The good news is that most prepayment meters that already support STS Edition 2 do not require any hardware upgrades or system reconfiguration.

Communication with all the relevant stakeholders has been taking place since 2014 when the STS Association launched their awareness programme and a platform that facilitates technical support and guidance to complete the TID Rollover project.

If you are a utility or a municipality and you have not started with the TID Rollover Project. You run the risk of being left behind. We strongly recommend upgrading your system as soon as possible in accordance with your utility’s requirements and guidelines. The time is now.

Read more news from STS Association

We've been supporting many utilities and municipalities' technical queries about the TID Rollover Project, and we've seen a lot of action in the last few months.

To get more information about the TID Rollover Event, please visit our website at www.tidrollover.co.za and YouTube channel

Written by STSA

The Standard Transfer Specification (STS) has become recognised as the only globally accepted open standard for prepayment systems, ensuring interoperability between system components from different manufacturers of prepayment systems.