‘5pc supplementary duty on services to stymie telecom growth’

The proposed 5 per cent supplementary duty on telecom services will act as a barrier, making it difficult for telecom operators to ensure quality services in the county, Abu Saeed Khan, senior fellow of LIRNEAsia said yesterday.
The subscriber will be the sufferers as they will be paying more for relatively lower quality service, Khan, also former secretary of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), added.
He said this after Finance Minister AMA Muhith, while placing budget in parliament yesterday for the new financial year, proposed a 5 per cent supplementary duty on the services provided through SIM and RUIM cards of mobile phones.
At present, mobile operators pay tax on SIM or RUIM cards during issue and replacement at the rate of Tk 300 and Tk 100 respectively. Muhith has also proposed to impose Taka 100 as SIM tax for both the instances of issuance and replacement of mobile SIM card.
The former AMTOB secretary said mobile operators currently share 5 per cent revenue with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and deposit 1 per cent to the Social Obligation Fund. Now, the finance minister has proposed additional 5 per cent duty on that, he added.
Citing the proposed lower SIM tax as good news, Shihab Ahmad, the chief commercial officer of Banglalink, said, “The proposed 5 per cent supplementary duty on the services provided through SIM and RUIM card will be a burden on customers”.
Ekram Kabir, vice president of Robi Axiata Limited, told The Independent that the decision to reduce SIM tax is an important step to improve mobile connectivity in Bangladesh.
“While we hoped a total elimination of the SIM tax, any reduction would certainly complement the initiatives and incentives to achieve the government’s vision of building a Digital Bangladesh,” he added.
“However, we are concerned that imposition of 5 per cent supplementary duty on mobile services would likely be burdensome on our valued subscribers, which may eventually dent the total revenue of the industry,” Kabir added.
“We would also request the government to rethink over the corporate tax, as a reduction would certainly encourage more foreign direct investment (FDI) and also further investment in this sector,” he added.
In his reaction, Sayed Talat Kamal, head of external communications of country’s largest mobile operator Grameenphone, said: “We are still in the process of assessing the budget announcement and may formally comment on the salient points at a later time”.
According to BTRC data, the total number of mobile phone subscribers in the country reached 12 crore 47 lakhs till April 2015 with 4 crore 56 lakh users availing internet facilities and 96 per cent of them using their mobile phones to access the internet.

 

5pc supplementary duty on services to stymie telecom growth

The proposed 5 per cent supplementary duty on telecom services will act as a barrier, making it difficult for telecom operators to ensure quality services in the county, Abu Saeed Khan, senior fellow of LIRNEAsia said yesterday. The subscriber will be the sufferers as they will be paying more for relatively lower quality service, Khan, also former secretary of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), added. He said this after Finance Minister AMA Muhith, while placing budget in parliament yesterday for the new financial year, proposed a 5 per cent supplementary duty on the services provided through SIM and RUIM cards of mobile phones. At present, mobile operators pay tax on SIM or RUIM cards during issue and replacement at the rate of Tk 300 and Tk 100 respectively. Muhith has also proposed to impose Taka 100 as SIM tax for both the instances of issuance and replacement of mobile SIM card. The former AMTOB secretary said mobile operators currently share 5 per cent revenue with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and deposit 1 per cent to the Social Obligation Fund. Now, the finance minister has proposed additional 5 per cent duty on that, he added. Citing the proposed lower SIM tax as good news, Shihab Ahmad, the chief commercial officer of Banglalink, said, The proposed 5 per cent supplementary duty on the services provided through SIM and RUIM card will be a burden on customers. Ekram Kabir, vice president of Robi Axiata Limited, told The Independent that the decision to reduce SIM tax is an important step to improve mobile connectivity in Bangladesh. While we hoped a total elimination of the SIM tax, any reduction would certainly complement the initiatives and incentives to achieve the governments vision of building a Digital Bangladesh, he added. However, we are concerned that imposition of 5 per cent supplementary duty on mobile services would likely be burdensome on our valued subscribers, which may eventually dent the total revenue of the industry, Kabir added. We would also request the government to rethink over the corporate tax, as a reduction would certainly encourage more foreign direct investment (FDI) and also further investment in this sector, he added. In his reaction, Sayed Talat Kamal, head of external communications of countrys largest mobile operator Grameenphone, said: We are still in the process of assessing the budget announcement and may formally comment on the salient points at a later time. According to BTRC data, the total number of mobile phone subscribers in the country reached 12 crore 47 lakhs till April 2015 with 4 crore 56 lakh users availing internet facilities and 96 per cent of them using their mobile phones to access the internet.