Telecommunication subscribers in Nigeria are likely to pay an additional ₦261.18bn on voice calls, short message service and data in one year only if the Senate passes the proposed Communications Service Bill into law.
The bill, was sponsored by the Borno South representative, Senator Ali Ndume which aims to charge nine per cent on communication services and pay-per-view TV services as proposed by TSTV.
Senator Ndume noted that the bill which had passed the first reading at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, would impose levies on telco services like voice calls, SMS, data usage – from electro communication service providers, Internet service providers and pay-per-view TV services.
Furthermore, network operators under the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria pointed out that the proposed 9%tax would make communication expensive and result to making life difficult for the average Nigerians.
Section 2 of the bill reads, “The tax shall be paid together with the Electronic Communication Service charge payable to the service provider by the consumer of the service".
Furthermore, network operators under the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria pointed out that the proposed 9%tax would make communication expensive and result to making life difficult for the average Nigerians.
Section 2 of the bill reads, “The tax shall be paid together with the Electronic Communication Service charge payable to the service provider by the consumer of the service".
The year 2018 industry data from NCC showed that the total volume of SMS sent in the year ended December 2018 was 9,565,167,407, which implied that subscribers paid N38.26bn for SMS in the 12 months, @ ₦4 per SMS.
With an additional nine per cent tax on SMS, subscribers will spend about N3.44bn more on sms as the unit cost of SMS would rise to N4.36 to enable network operators to remit the nine per cent tax to the government.
Speaking on the impact on the subscribers the President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, condemned the proposed tax, noting that it would increase poverty in Nigeria and also increase the rate of unemployment in the country.
He said, “It will impoverish Nigerians. Did you know that on every recharge card that you buy, you pay five per centSpeaking on the impact on the subscribers, the President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, condemned the proposed tax, noting that it would impoverish more Nigerians and increase the rate of unemployment in the country.
He said, “It will impoverish Nigerians. Did you know that on every recharge card that you buy, you pay five per cent Value Added Tax on it already?
“There are so many taxes being paid by the telecom companies. These taxes are about N450bn annually, apart from the VAT. Why does anyone in Nigeria want to introduce additional taxes in a sector that is bedevilled by multiple taxes?” Value Added Tax on it already?
“There are so many taxes currently paid by the teleco companies. These taxes are about N450bn annually, apart from the VAT. Why does anyone in Nigeria want to introduce additional taxes in a sector that is densed with multiple taxes?”
“The tax shall be levied on the following Electronic Communication Services: (a) Voice Calls; (b) SMS; (c) MMS; (d) Data usage both from Telecommunication Services Providers and Internet Service Providers; (e) Pay-per-View TV stations, etc.”
Please beware of their prospective, and it is well Naija.
Please beware of their prospective, and it is well Naija.
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