One resident who did not want to be identified, told the Review that their notice had different biller codes on the front and on the back of the rates notice.
“It was very confusing,” he said.
“I put the code in and my bank kept telling me it was wrong.
“It looks like a simple typo to me because one is 31149 and the other one is 311449. I think the council was just lucky that the shorter biller code wasn’t for some other company.
“I called the council and asked what to do and was just told to use the other number.”
Another frustrated ratepayer said the council should “forget about building new council offices and concentrate on providing basic services”.
While confirming that one of the BPay biller codes shown on the third Rates Instalment Notice had been printed incorrectly, a Cumberland Council spokesperson said they were not legally allowed to reprint or reissue the notices after January 31.
She said the correct BPay code should read as 311449.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and encourage residents to make an online payment using this updated information,” she said.
Rates’ bill error alert
MORE than 59,000 rates notices were issued with the wrong payment details to Cumberland ratepayers last month.
