The City of Kelowna says it is correcting clerical error that resulted in customers enrolled in its pre-authorized withdrawal system for utility bill payments incorrectly being billed a late payment penalty.
The city says no money was actually withdrawn to cover the penalty, but it was just included on the Dec. 16 bill.
“We apologize for the confusion this may have caused to our customers and are in the process of reversing the charge showing on impacted customers’ accounts,” said the city in a notice posted on its utility billing website.
“The pre-authorized withdrawal for the Dec. 16 bill, which will occur on Jan. 18, will be accurate and will not include this penalty charge.”
The average penalty was $3.18, said the city.
Customers who have an inquiry about their bill can contact the city’s customer care team at utilitybilling@kelowna.ca or by calling 250-469-8757 (press option 2).
The error occurred after the city took over handling city water and utility billing in November from the company that previously dealt with it for the city, Corix.
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