By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, Nov. 14, GNA – Ghana has saved US$1.1
million monthly after mounting a Common Platform to monitor the activities of
the telecommunications sector, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of
Communications, has said,
The platform would also save the state US$
66 million by the end of the five-year contract signed between the government
and the Kelni GVG.
Government of Ghana signed a contract with
the Kelni GVG, a Haitian ICT firm, in December 2017, to monitor traffic, fraud
management and plug revenue leakages, as well as verify mobile money
transactions of the telecommunication companies in the country.
The signing of the contract generated a lot
of public debate, with some civil society organisations and individuals raising
concerns about lack of transparency of the contract amount and the speed at
which it was rushed through parliament for approval.
However, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful, who addressed
journalists at a media briefing in Accra, said the revenues saved by the state
had vindicated government’s position on the establishment of the platform.
“From the gains mentioned above, the
platform has provided more value to the state at a lesser amount compared to
the previous contract with Subah and Afriwave,” Mrs Owusu-Ekuful noted.
The Minister noted that apart from saving
the nation millions of dollars, the platform also offered real-time monitoring
of 2.5 billion transactions per day within the telecom sector, including calls,
SMS and monitoring of mobile money transactions as an added component.
Besides, the platform saved the nation GH¢205.6
million from the fraud management component since its inception and expected to
deliver tax savings of approximately GH¢795.9 million.
On mobile money monitoring, it reported an
average monthly usage of GH¢29.1 billion and GH¢195.8 million transactions,
with the Mobile Network Operators generating GH¢71 million per month in
transaction fees.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful observed that prior to the
introduction of the platform, the nation lost GH¢300 million in taxes between
2015 and the first quarter of 2017 due to potential under declaration, while an
estimated GH¢470 million was saved in taxes between March 2017 and to date,
while a potential GH¢1.5 billion would have been lost, if the platform were not
implemented.
On the upfront deduction of the
Communication Service Tax (CST) by telecos, the Minister explained that the
Mobile Network Operators asked for time to configure their systems and expected
to complete the adjustment by November 26.
She added that the telecos also started
refunding all the upfront CST deductions made from customers.
GNA
