Is your municipal bill wrong? Find out what to dispute.
Our AI reads your last 3 to 12 months of City of Johannesburg bills, and fixed calculation rules check them against the City's own published tariffs and rules. You get a plain report showing what doesn't match, by how much, the rule or tariff it relies on, and the City's own steps for querying it.
Not happy with your report, for any reason? Ask within 14 days for a full refund. City of Johannesburg accounts only for now.
One example: the catch-up bill
Say your water meter isn't read for two months. You're billed estimates of 5 kilolitres each month, then a real reading shows you used 45 kl over the three months, so the remaining 35 kl lands on the third bill. Water is priced in bands, so the higher kilolitres cost more:
- Billed as 5 kl, 5 kl and 35 kl: R1 605,53
- The same 45 kl spread evenly at 15 kl a month: R928,44
That's R677,09 more for the same water. These are illustrative figures from the City's 2026/27 water bands for conventional meters; your own bill may differ. The City's policy says the account is "adjusted accordingly" when a real reading comes. It doesn't say the catch-up must be spread, so asking for a spread is a fair request rather than a proven error. We tell you which is which. How catch-up bills work
How it works
1Send your bills
After you pay, email PDFs or clear photos of 3 to 12 consecutive months of municipal accounts.
2We check them
Our AI copies the figures from your bills. Fixed calculation rules check readings, estimates, catch-ups, water, sanitation, rates and refuse against the City's published tariffs for the year of each bill (2025/26 or 2026/27) and its Credit Control Policy.
3You get a report
Within 2 working days of usable bills: each finding, the rand amount, the rule or tariff it relies on, and the City's steps for querying it, which you follow yourself.
What we check
Estimated readings
The City's policy says estimates must be based on your average monthly use over the 12 preceding months (Credit Control Policy, clause 9.3). We compare each estimate with your actual readings, for water and electricity.
Catch-up bills
When a real reading finally arrives, months of water use can land on one bill and be priced in higher bands. We work out what it would cost spread evenly.
Rates and refuse
Rates follow your municipal valuation (the first R300,000 is excluded for your main home), and refuse follows a value band. We recalculate both.
Water and sanitation
Water is charged in kilolitre bands, plus a monthly levy. Sanitation is charged by stand size. We check that each charge matches.
Duplicate charges
The same charge appearing twice on one bill. Any charge we don't check is listed so you can check it yourself.
What we don't check (yet)
- Electricity prices: we check whether electricity estimates follow your actual use, but not the tariff itself.
- Prepaid meters, business and other non-residential accounts.
- Rebates and property categories other than the main-home exclusion and a pensioner rebate you tell us about.
- Whether your municipal valuation itself is right.
- Sectional-title units and flats: sanitation is checked by stand size, which applies to private dwellings.
- Properties with more than one meter or connection.
- Whether the City adjusted the monthly bands for a bill that covers clearly more or fewer days than a month.
- Backdated charges and VAT treatment: where the City's VAT basis is unclear, we say so rather than call it an error.
Price
R349 per account, for 3 to 12 months of bills. No VAT is charged.
Full refund on request within 14 days. If you're not happy with your report for any reason, including if it finds nothing, ask within 14 days of receiving it and we refund the full R349. It doesn't depend on what the municipality decides.
Where we find something that is fair to ask for but not a clear breach of a rule (for example, spreading a catch-up), we say so plainly and keep it apart from the errors.
Who does the checking
An AI does the reading. Overbilled is run by an AI working for the business owner, who is responsible for the service. The AI reads your bills and copies the figures into a case file; fixed calculation rules compare them with the City's published tariff and policy documents. Every error and request in your report shows the bill or period it comes from and the rule or tariff it relies on, and the report lists the figures we read from your bills, so you can check them yourself.
This is general information, not legal advice, and we can't promise any outcome. We don't contact the municipality for you: you log the query yourself.
Questions
Which municipalities do you cover?
The City of Johannesburg (Johannesburg Water, refuse and rates, plus estimated-reading checks for City Power electricity). Other metros will be added one at a time, each only once its tariffs are loaded and tested.
Should I stop paying while I dispute?
The City's Credit Control Policy says a query or dispute "must be accompanied by payment of, at least, the total amount outstanding on the account" and that, "where a portion of the account is under query/dispute, payment shall be based on average monthly previous charges before the query/dispute arises until such query/dispute is resolved" (clause 16.3). Ask the City which amount it expects from you while your query runs. Our guide How to dispute a Joburg bill explains the steps.
What happens to my bills?
We use them only for your check and delete our copies 30 days after we send your report. The AI that reads them is provided by Anthropic in the USA; the privacy notice explains what it keeps and for how long.
Is there a free option?
Yes. The free check runs in your browser and saves nothing you type. It tests your readings, estimates and catch-ups, and your rates and refuse charges.