{"id":722846,"date":"2019-10-14T14:23:11","date_gmt":"2019-10-14T14:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2019\/10\/14\/govt-stops-telcos-from-milking-consumers-2\/"},"modified":"2019-10-14T14:23:11","modified_gmt":"2019-10-14T14:23:11","slug":"govt-stops-telcos-from-milking-consumers-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/10\/14\/govt-stops-telcos-from-milking-consumers-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t Stops Telcos From \u2018Milking\u2019 Consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful <\/strong><\/p>\n

TELECOMMUNICATIONS
\nCOMPANIES operating in the country were recently directed by the Communications
\nMinister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, to stop milking consumers by pushing the nine per
\ncent communications service tax (CST) on them.<\/p>\n

The
\ntelcos were previously absorbing the six per cent CST but when government
\nannounced its increment to nine per cent in the 2019 mid-year budget, and
\nimplemented it, these companies have now shifted the burden on consumers.
A letter written to the National Communication
\nAuthority (NCA) by Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said dated October 9, 2019, follows an
\naccusation by the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament of how the
\ntelcos implemented the CST to cast government in bad light.<\/p>\n

Again,
\nefforts to make the telcos absorb the tax fell on deaf ears. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo
\nminimize the negative impact of the current mode of deduction of the CST, the
\nMinistry of Communications hereby directs the immediate implementation of the
\nfollowing measure: CST should be treated the same way VAT, NHIL, GETFUND levy
\nand all other taxes and levies imposed on entities doing business in Ghana are
\ntreated\u2026 These extraordinary upfront deductions of CST and notification of same
\nto the subscribers must stop with immediate effect,\u201d the Ministry of
\nCommunications directed.
The Minister also directed that \u201call unused data
\nand voice bundles purchased by subscribers do not expire and must be rolled
\nover with the next recharge. MNOs will be subjected to strict compliance with
\nexisting Quality of Service (QoS) standard to ensure value for the subscribers\u2019
\nmoney in accordance with their licence obligations.\u201d
Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah, Chairman of
\nParliament\u2019s Finance Committee, who earlier blamed the telecommunication
\ncompanies over their mode of implementation of the nine per cent increment in CST,
\nsaid that was a deliberate strategy by the telcos to present government as
\nuncaring.<\/p>\n

The
\ntelcos introduction of an instant deduction of the tax saw a customer who bought
\na recharge of GH\u00a210 worth of talk time for example, losing 80 pesewas instantly
\nand left with GH\u00a29.20.<\/p>\n

However, the Ranking MP\u2019s Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson, has
\n\u201cstrongly disagreed\u201d with government\u2019s position saying there was nothing wrong
\nwith the stance adopted by the telcos.<\/p>\n

Speaking
\nto Citi FM<\/em>, Ato Forson said telcos
\nhad to adopt the new style of notifying customers immediately of deductions on
\ntheir recharges in order to avoid being accused of cheating.
\u201cFirst of all, let me say that I strongly
\ndisagree with my colleague the Chairman of the Finance Committee, in the sense
\nthat an increment of 50% is quite substantial and again it is important to know
\nthat telcos have been charging this tax and it has been reflecting on our bills
\nfrom day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

BY Samuel Boadi <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES operating in the country were recently directed by the Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, to stop milking consumers by pushing the nine per cent communications service tax (CST) on them. The telcos were previously absorbing the six per cent CST but when government announced its increment to nine per cent in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":706218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-722846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nGov\u2019t Stops Telcos From \u2018Milking\u2019 Consumers - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/10\/14\/govt-stops-telcos-from-milking-consumers-2\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Gov\u2019t Stops Telcos From \u2018Milking\u2019 Consumers - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Ursula Owusu-Ekuful TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES operating in the country were recently directed by the Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, to stop milking consumers by pushing the nine per cent communications service tax (CST) on them. 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