Frequently asked questions

No. Your payment and your token are two separate steps, and a paid purchase is never abandoned. If the electricity company is slow to answer, our system automatically retries your purchase for up to 15 minutes - most delayed tokens arrive within that window, on screen if you have waited and by email either way. If it is still outstanding after that, our support team is alerted with your reference automatically and follows it up with the provider. You do not need to buy again - and should not, because the first purchase is still being delivered.

Two honest reasons. First, if your meter carries unpaid arrears, your DisCo deducts them from a purchase before issuing units - when that happens we show the exact amount deducted on your token screen and on your receipt, so the difference is never a mystery. Second, the price per kWh is your DisCo's own tariff and varies by band; we display the units the DisCo returned, never an estimate.

Each DisCo sets its own minimum vend, and we read those limits live from the vending network rather than inventing our own. The amount box under each DisCo shows its current minimum before you type anything.

Nine times out of ten the meter is registered with a different DisCo than the one selected - a Surulere meter belongs to Eko (EKEDC), not Ikeja (IKEDC). Check the DisCo name on your last bill or printed receipt. If the number and DisCo are both right and it still fails, the meter may not yet be active on the DisCo's own vending system, which only the DisCo can fix.

No. Quick buy works with just a meter number and an email address for the receipt. An account adds history: every purchase listed, searchable by meter or token, with a one-tap buy-again for meters you have used before.

Airtime and data for MTN, Airtel, Glo and T2, and cable TV for DSTV, GOtv and Startimes. The bundle and package lists come live from our vending partner, so what you see is what can actually be delivered right now.

Usually within minutes of payment. Like electricity, a delayed delivery is retried automatically and your receipt follows by email, so the reference is always in your hands.

When you enter your smartcard number we check it with the provider and show the account holder's name - and, where the provider reports it, the bouquet currently on the card - before you pay. If the name shown is not yours, stop and check the number.

A flat ₦100 service charge on electricity and on cable TV, always itemised on the review screen before you commit - the total you approve is the total you pay, and no fee appears later at the payment window. Airtime, data and exam pins carry no service charge at all.

Payment is taken by our licensed payment processor in their own secure window - by card or by bank transfer. Your card details are entered with the processor, not with us; we never see or store them.

A paid purchase that cannot be delivered is not left hanging: the automatic retries run first, and if the provider ultimately reverses the transaction our system detects the reversal rather than leaving your screen claiming otherwise. Anything that needs a human lands with support automatically, with your reference attached. If you write to us, include the reference from your receipt and we can trace the exact purchase straight away.

Every delivered purchase emails a receipt to the address used at checkout, showing exactly what the result screen showed - token and units for electricity, the plan for data, the package for cable TV. Check spam the first time; receipts come from receipts@utilitybox.ng. Signed-in purchases are also listed in your account, searchable by number or token.

Yes, two ways. The site remembers the numbers you have bought for before and offers them back in the field itself, on every service. And electricity receipts carry a Buy again button that reopens the purchase with your meter, DisCo and amount already filled in.

Yes. Contact support with the meter number and the approximate time of purchase - the token belongs to your meter regardless of where the receipt went, and we can re-send it to the right address.