My DStv Subscription

If you pay your subscription for 11 months in advance, you’ll receive the 12th month free.

The main reason is that we can’t guarantee that only pensioners will use the decoder. Decoders are portable, and we’ve experienced cases where people abuse the system. We do offer a commercial subscription to multi-unit retirement villages as a whole. In this way, pensioners can get their DStv services at a reduced rate.

If you're trying to process an online credit card payment and get error code 4019 (undetermined ECI 07), please contact your bank immediately.

This could be a security error that’s been generated because the system can’t tell if your credit card is 3D secure.

Your services should have been reconnected after 15 minutes if you made an internet bank transfer, an ATM payment or direct deposit at any Absa branch it could take a little bit longer for the payment to reflect on our system.

 If this hasn’t happened you can reconnect your services on the DStv website, via our WhatsApp bot on the MyDStv app.

There are several ways you can check your balance:

• View your balance by logging into the MyDStv section of the DStv website, on the MyDStv app or by typing in ‘Check Balance’ on WhatsApp.
• Dial *120*68584# and follow the prompts.
• Call us on 083 900 3788 or 011 289 2222 without having to speak to an agent. When calling, you will be asked to provide your ID number or Smartcard number in order for our systems to identify you to make sure we provide you with the right information through our automated system. Value-added service (VAS) rates apply.

Yes, you can pay your DStv account via EFT.

Select ‘MultiChoice’ from the list of pre-approved beneficiaries on your bank's internet banking portal, and use your eight-digit DStv customer number as the payment reference.

If you bank with one of the five major banks (Absa, FNB, Standard Bank, Capitec or Nedbank) and follow these steps, your payment will reflect on our system within 15 minutes.

For customers who bank with FNB, if your DStv customer number is shorter than eight digits, just add zeros in front of it (eg customer number 12345 becomes 00012345).

If you bank elsewhere, please note that your payment could take up to three days to reflect on our system. This is also the case if you don’t select ‘MultiChoice’ from the list of pre-approved beneficiaries on your bank's internet banking portal.

You can make direct deposits at any Absa branch. To make it easier for you, MultiChoice is already listed as a beneficiary. All you have to do is give the bank teller your eight digit DStv customer number. If your customer number is less than eight digits, add zeros in front of the number to make it eight digits long (eg customer number 12345 becomes 00012345).

If you have made a payment by direct bank deposit to Absa, or at any Pick 'n Pay, PEP, Checkers, Ackermans or Spar outlet, or via EFT with Absa, FNB, Nedbank or Standard Bank, your services will be automatically reconnected when the payment shows on your DStv Account, provided that the full amount including any reconnection fees has been paid.

If your services are still not reconnected, please contact us.

MultiChoice stopped offering M-Net as a standalone package quite some time ago. In addition to this, we no longer support analogue decoders. South Africa has moved from analogue to digital services, analogue-based services have been discontinued.

You can get help on Facebook (@DStv), on Twitter (@DStvSelfService), WhatsApp (060 060 3788), via email ([email protected]), using USSD (dial *120*68584#) or use self service on our website or mobile app.

When setting up XtraView, you’ll be asked to choose the primary decoder and also nominate which decoder should be the one that gets switched off if the second Access Fee is not paid. You can, however, also nominate which one you want switched off when scheduling your disconnection – just let us have the smartcard number of the one you want disconnected.

Yes.

Yes.

You can try again and will not be charged for it.

Yes if you pay your DStv account by debit oder you can add Showmax onto that Payment. Premium subscribers get Showmax at no additional cost and all other packages get a 50% discount. You can find out how to add Showmax to your DStv account here: Add Showmax to DStv bill.

You can register up to five devices with your Showmax subscription. The DStv Explora counts as one of these devices. You can also watch two different shows on two devices simultaneously off the same Showmax subscription.

Yes, as long as you meet all the qualifying requirements.

You’ll be notified of a successful change in payment method and you will be able to see a Showmax card on your MyDStv dashboard on the website and the MyDStv App. You will also be advised of a failed addition via the Showax page (when you make the request). If adding Showmax to your DStv account fails, we recommend you contact DStv to check your DStv account status.

Yes, you can still see all your details on the Showmax website

The payment of your Showmax subscription via your DStv account will remain in place until you change the payment method or cancel your Showmax subscription at Showmax.com.

We do have specials for selected customers. DStv Premium customers get Showmax free when added to their DStv account. For all other DStv Customers Showmax is billed at R49pm (instead of the normal R99pm) when paid via their DStv account.

You will not be able to access Showmax on your DStv Explora if your DStv subscription is not paid – your DStv Explora needs to be active for Showmax to work. However, you will still be able to access Showmax on other platforms such as through your smart TV, tablet or smartphone.

If you cancel your DStv subscription your next Showmax subscription will be billed at the normal price of R99pm. If you move to a lower DStv package your Showmax subscription will be billed in accordance with the DStv deal offered at the time.

Your Showmax subscription will be cancelled.

Yes, as long as you meet all the promotion requirements.

You can upgrade your account immediately and will be billed on your next payment date. Downgrades are scheduled and will only take effect on your next payment date. You account needs to be up to date and fully paid for the scheduled downgrade to take place.

The DStv service is a prepaid service for a full month - when you pay your subscription, the contract for that month is fixed.

You can upgrade your DStv package at anytime to watch a specific sporting event or catch a specific show, then downgrade again on your next payment date. When you upgrade, you need to pay in the difference between your current package and the upgraded package for the time left until your next payment date.

You can downgrade once a month on the day your subscription payment is due. You can log onto Self Service and request for us to schedule this downgrade for you.

We understand that some customers would like to choose their own channels, as they believe they would pay less. There is an “economies of scale” benefit when channels are grouped into packages and offered to a set number of customers. What this means is that it is cheaper for our customers to get packages, as opposed to making up their own package.

Individual channels on their own are expensive and if customers were to select a mix of their own channels, they would end up paying more than what they currently pay. As channel choices vary greatly, there is also a chance that a specific niche channel will become unaffordable if there is too little interest.

We put a lot of thought and research into putting together the DStv Packages and maintaining them. We ensure that there are a variety of packages available to suit every pocket, and that every package will offer something for every member of the family. We also consistently monitor feedback from customers, and factor this in when deciding on changes to packages.

We use promos for a variety of reasons, this includes giving updates on new programmes, products or services directly to our customers, as well as to viewers who watch DStv in hotels, guesthouses, clubs and pubs.

As our number of channel offerings is constantly growing, the promos help us point out where our customers can find other programmes across the many channels.

We also use promos to help our customers understand key aspects of the DStv service such as explaining how rain impacts your viewing, highlighting various payment methods, explaining how to set the aspect ratio on your decoder and so forth.

We try to rotate our promos as much as we can so you don’t see endless repeats of the same ones. We buy in channels and sometimes they do their own ad insertions. In these cases, we encourage them to also rotate their promos. Where we pick up issues (when we get complaints), we highlight this to the channel and ask them to do something about it.

This phenomenon is known as ‘rain fade’ and can occur due to weather at reception of signal or at the source causing rain fade. You shouldn’t experience any problems with your signal if the sky is overcast or if there is drizzle or normal rainfall. If you’re having problems under these circumstances, then your dish isn’t optimally installed or properly fine-tuned, and you should contact a DStv Accredited Installer to rectify the problem.

We recommend that your dish size be 80cm. Signal interruptions may occur during heavy downpours – this is unfortunately a feature on all satellite systems worldwide.

Rain fade affects customers in two key ways:

Firstly, satellite signals become weaker as they pass through raindrops. This is a law of physics that is, regrettably, beyond our control (and which no satellite company in the world has been able to get around).

Secondly, the location of the storm is important. Even though the storm may not be in your area, storms in other locations (basically, any place where our signals originate and transmit to and from) can still affect your signal. Investing in a larger dish may also help prevent some signal loss.

Decoder serial number

The decoder’s serial number is found on a sticker on the back of your device.

Smartcard number

The smartcard number can be found on the back of your smartcard, under the barcode.

Simply click on Forgot Password and enter the email address you used when you registered. You will then receive an email with a once off reset password link. The link will redirect you to the DStv.co.za website where you can set up your new password.

If you still have access to the old email you can log in using the same credentials and unlink the account from the old email and log out. Register using your new email address and remember to relink your smartcard to your new profile. If you do not have access to your old email, send your query to [email protected].

It might be because some surround sound systems tend to distort adverts that play out in stereo. We actively monitor the sound levels and have invested millions of Rands in sound equalising equipment. The levels should be very similar between adverts and programmes but if you come across one that isn’t, please do let us know.

It’ll be helpful if you can note the channel and the specific time; then we can investigate and fix the problem quickly.

In order to control what your kids watch on DStv we recommend using the parental control feature on your decoder.

You can set up Parental Control using the menu on your remove, on our latest decoders, press the BLUE DStv button, scroll to Settings, select Parental Control and follow the steps.

On older decoders press MENU and then select Parental Control.

Forgot your PIN?

If you’ve entered your PIN incorrectly five times or can’t remember it you can reset it by dialing *120*68584# from your cellphone*

*The cellphone number you use when dialling *120*68584# must be the number you registered when activating your DStv account.

Age restrictions and what they mean:

• R18: allows you to view all content.
• Family: will block all content rated PG 13, 16, 18 and R18, and only programmes with a FAM rating will be available for viewing.
• PG 13: will block all content rated 16, 18 and R18, and only programmes with a FAM or PG 13 rating will be available for viewing.
• 16: will block all content rated 18 and R18, and only programmes with a FAM, PG 13 or 16 rating will be available for viewing.
• 18: will block all content rated R18, and all other programmes will be available for viewing.